#This is a really common right wing tactic used for deflecting

[the-final-sif]

In a period where we are seeing increasing levels of bad faith takes, particularly from right wing assholes/terfs/nazis/etc, I think it's time that people on the left learn about eating the red card. The best example I've heard of shrugging off fake power structures.

Transcript below the cut.

Mike: Sure.

Dan: Mhm. So did you say any of those things by the way?

Mike: Nope. I didn't say any of that.

Jordan: Maybe next time.

Dan: Interesting.

Mike: Maybe next time. [crosstalk with Jordan], maybe cnn can invite me on and give me a shot-

Jordan [crosstalk with Mike]: Next time you're on CNN, give it a try.

Mike: I will say all those things, but that won't matter because I'll just have not said something else.

Jordan: No it won't.

Dan: Yeah. Go on and say, just do a satanic ritual on air and see- see how he plays that one.

Jordan: That's where I feel like we're like we're at-

Dan: He'll probably ignore it.

Jordan: I feel like we're all in eat the red card territory. You know, like if somebody says, "Oh, you, you're, you lied about this." Just be like, yeah, you're fucking right. I did. And I'll do it to your face and your mom's face! Fuck you!

Dan: Is that, is that a reference to my story?

Jordan: Yeah.

Dan: Okay. I didn't know if that-

Jordan: That resonated with me.

Dan: I didn't know if that was like vernacular-

Jordan: No, no, for me-

Dan: Wow.

Jordan: Yeah, that story is stuck with me forever.

Dan: That's pretty sweet.

Jordan: I love that story.

Dan: So Mike, I'll give you the short version of this.

Mike: Okay.

Jordan: When I was a kid, my parents only let us play soccer because the other games were like, I don't know, not European enough or something.

Mike: Oh, sure, okay.

Dan: We, we would play and on my brother's team, there was this guy who was kind of a bad-ass. And so in one game, he got a yellow card and he ate it.

Mike: Wow.

Dan: And so immediately the ref pulled out a red card, gave it to him, and he ate that too.

Mike:: Yeah.

Jordan: Like- what do you- See, I feel like that's just such a great story of like, what did you think was going to happen? You thought that you would exercise your real authority finally. And the truth is you have none because I'm going to eat this red fucking card and then walk away. You're nothing to me. Yeah.

Dan: So that, in sort of the metaphor, that is doing a satanic ritual on CNN.

Jordan: Yeah, totally. Absolutely. Yeah!

Jordan: Oh, they say he does satanic rituals. Fucking- let's see if I can do one! If you think satanic rituals are real and you believe that I do them,then should I do one on TV? It should work.

Mike: Yep.

Jordan: So eat the red card, man!

Dan: Don't do that.

Jordan: See if you can summon a demon.

Dan: Mike, don't do this.

Jordan: Summon a demon, Mike. Mike summon a demon.

Dan: There's an angel in a, uh, pride, uh, devil month on your shoulder.

Mike: Pride demon month- gotta go out in my pride demon month shirt?

Jordan: Angel month isn't until August. You've still got a couple of days.

#knowledge fight #us politics #misinformation #sif speaks #audio #This is a really common right wing tactic used for deflecting #and the only way to really win is to eat the red card and go about your day.

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 093 - "Life is Change"

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 4 Episode 21 - Terra Prime

Enterprise tries to block out Terra Prime's Signal, but nothing works. The Signal is too wide, and destroying the ship will blow up a colony on Mars. Terra Prime then start fearmongering about the baby. Later in the episode she gets named Elizabeth, and calling her that feels less clinical than just calling her "the baby". They also start to threaten to destroy Star Fleet command unless all aliens leave earth.

Enterprise tries to make a tactical retreat to Earth, and the Conference on Earth starts to be disrupted by several protests outside the various embassies. Archer's plan is to send in a stealth team. He sends Malcolm to meet Harris to find a way past the array's sensor grid. Apparently, within 10 meters of the planet's surface is a blind spot in the sensors. The plan is use a comet due to get reflected by the array to get onto the planets surface, then use this blind spot to travel from the Pole to the Array.

Meanwhile in the Colony, Trip and T'Pol finally get to see their daughter, and we find out that Terra Prime got Trip and T'Pol's DNA from a traitor on Enterprise, but who is this traitor? Trip is also coerced into improving the accuracy of the comet deflection array.

As I said last episode, I really like how Terra Prime and it's rhetoric parallels that of real world right wing populists. Both modern populists in their recruitment speeches, and older 1950's rhetoric around mixed race children when Paxton is talking about Elizabeth, and also just the fact that Terra Prime is Latin for "Earth First", which mirrors the names of a few real world nationalist groups. It's a brave choice for the episode to tackle this topic so directly!

We got a nice scene with Trip trying to deconstruct Terra Prime's rhetoric, and when that doesn't work we get to see him do the good old strategy of punching a space nazi, love to see it!

While Trip is doing good, Travis, Archer, Malcolm and Phlox start enacting their plan, and have a rough ride down onto mars. They have a rough landing, but they survive the entry into the Atmosphere, and the ride to the Array works.

I loved T'Pol just trying her best to be a mother and just talking to Elizabeth about how she needs a name in full Logic mode. Trio gets put in a prison cell, and I love seeing this guy at work, engineering a lockpick out of random scraps.

Earlier in the episode, T'Pol does a scan on Paxton, and apparently, Paxton is surviving through alien medicine. That kind of Hypocrisy is common in the type of person the episode is criticising and I love it here. When T'Pol got the scan, I was kinda worried that the episode would just have Paxton straight up be an alien, which I don't think would have worked as well, but just having that little bit of "rules for thee but not for me" hypocrisy goes a long way in characterising Paxton as a villain. T'Pol tries to use this information as Blackmail to get her, Trip and Elizabeth out of mars, but it doesn't work.

We get a brief scene of Hoshi in command, and she's actually a great leader, and I love seeing her stand up to the Governor who's pushing for the radical option of kabooming the array along with the colony.

As this is going on, the ground party encounter Trip, and they reach the control room, as Hoshi is in position to destroy the array. A firefight breaks out, and the room starts to depressurise. The struggle with Archer and Paxton fighting and switching the weapon on and off was great. Unfortunately, in the end the weapon fires. Thanks to trip though, the shot misses, and Earth is saved.

At the end of the Episode, we get a final scene with Trip and T'Pol naming the baby, as I mentioned Earlier, Elizabeth, naming her after Trip's sister. Unfortunately, because of Elizabeth's Unique nature, she has a genetic disorder and is dying. Phlox is trying his best, but he's unable to do anything. Elizabeth sadly passes away, and the scene really made me cry. Trip and T'Pol's grief is really well performed. However, they are given the hopeful note that it was a fault of the process, not of the specific combination of Vulcan and Human genes, even if it's less hopeful and more bittersweet for Trip and T'Pol specifically.

Meanwhile, Malcolm and Travis find that the shuttlepod had been tampered with, in a way that could have killed the ground crew is Travis wasn't such a skilled Pilot. They trace the Tampering through Kelby down to an Ensign Called Masaro, who would appear to be our Terra Prime Spy. Archer catches him, but Masaro takes his own life.

Finally at the end of the episode, we see Archer give a speech that finally kickstarts the alliance that I'm assuming leads to the Federation that Daniels kept going on about. While I wish there more seasons, it is still a really fitting note to leave off on, the galaxy coming together for the future, and it ties off all the themes of the series really beautifully.

Since the list I'm following says to skip episode 22 until much later, that's me finished enterprise now. I've grown really attached to this crew since I started this 93 days ago, and well, it's been a long road, getting from there to here.

#whovian watching star trek #star trek #star trek enterprise #star trek ent #enterprise #star trek: enterprise #ent

[therianomalocaris]

I am posting this with links and names blacked out, because of how interesting this ask is to me as a piece of Nazi propaganda. It's got all the common talking points and I would like to put on my text analysis hat and glasses for a minute and explain exactly how asks like these should be deconstructed:

[Joy of Satan] is ran by people of color, they aren’t white supremacists. [...] [REDACTED] was created by [REDACTED] whom is a black woman and the high priestess of JoS.

First line, already starting out strong. "We can't be racist, we have black people in our ranks!" is a very well-known way of deflecting from the true nature of an organization. Having marginalized people in your ranks, even high ranking ones, says nothing of the ideas pushed by your people- I would like to remind my dearest readers that Ernst Röhm was a high ranking Nazi officer, the only person who could call Adolf Hitler by his first name, and a known homosexual. He was killed just like the rest of our people when the time came to enact violence upon us.

JoS follows non-white Pagan Gods.

You will find that by "non-white" they mean "non-Abrahamic", and by "non-Abrahamic" they mean "non-Jewish". This may sound like a reach on my part, but let me direct your attention to the end of this particular message which directly responds to allegations of antisemitism:

The Abrahamic religions are anti-Satanic, anti-Pagan, anti-women and anti-gay so why can’t JoS be anti-Abrahamic?

Nobody accused them of being "anti-Abrahamic", so this is specifically a rewording of terms. This is showing that when they say "Abrahamic", they really mean "Jewish".

Going back to the start:

JoS has a black high priestess, Asian high priest, Hispanic High Priestess, etc.

Note the groups mentioned here. Black, Asian, Hispanic. Interesting that while "Nazi" does imply racism of all stripes, the accusations against them only specifically mentioned antisemitism. Does that "etc." include Jewish people? I would guess not, since they see us as sub-human descendants of Reptilians.

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that, but they see Jews as separate from the rest of humanity: this is written explicitly in their texts if you are willing to look, and let it be known that I would never write anything on a particular organization without doing my due research. The Joy of Satan organization "believes" (assuming they're not jut a grift, which many people in the notes of that post say it is) Satan created humanity and the Reptilian race created Jews by mixing their DNA with non-human animals.

So when they say "people", keep in mind they are implicitly excluding Jews.

According to [REDACTED] which is the official JoS forums, there’s thousands upon thousands of non-white and mixed race JoS members that have their own spaces on the forum.

The number stated here is most likely highly exaggerated, but I am more interested in that wording than on debating numbers. "Non-white and mixed race JoS members [...] have their own spaces on the forum."

This obviously implies that white spaces exist on the forum. This also implies that this forum is divided up by race, and while I have not looked at the link provided as to not increase their traffic I would not be surprised if it was.

JoS supports women’s rights and gay rights.

I'm just going to end on this. Nobody directly accused them of not supporting these issues. This focus on women's right and gay rights is an attempt at moving the goalpost away from antisemitism, a common tactic of debate among right-wing extremist. If you see someone do this, bring back the topic around: do you, or do you not believe, Jews to be human? The answer, as explained above, is a resounding no.

And here concludes our analysis of this text. Come back later for more, probably, unless these Nazi fuckers realize they are giving me the upper hand by coming to my system's blog to try to proselytize for their cult.

#Dirk. #antisemitism cw #homophobia cw #nazi cw #nazism cw #Content warning this one as I am giving specific examples.

[cyberkevvideo]

Throne of Night Theory Builds Part 24: The Deep Dragon Queen of Book 3

Tonight’s entry is definitely a different one. Namely, I was going to make this dead last. Literally as absolutely last as possible. Mostly because I don’t have a proper picture for this one. Just a stock photo, and a picture that technically goes along with it.

But, beggars can’t be choosers, and this entry is entirely based around opportunity knocking/circumstances being what they are. I’ll get into that though in the next half.

As always, for space reasons, I’ll be cropping the encounter build.

All images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus

Because it got brought up, I do not have a Patreon or a Kickstarter, but I do have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who are looking to support me. No pressure though. The economy isn’t the greatest at the moment, so some belts are being tightened more than usual.

Finally, before get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

So tonight I came across old, old notes that gave a synopsis of Book 3, and it’s actually different/more detailed than the last update I’d read that gave you the rundown of Books 3-6. This is information I absolutely needed to know back when I did the undead dwarf king. Needless to say that this update is actually completely different than what I had originally intended because I had wanted my readers to know that the Golem Wielder entry had been given a massive update. Had to completely remove a bunch of feats in exchange of others, and revise the magic items, land speed, AC, etc. At least it wasn’t a complete re-write, which was what I was originally afraid I was going to have to do.

But that’s really about it. A dwarf doesn’t want to die, it uses dark pacts and forbidden magic, and it meets up with a deep dragon that can help with all of that. On top of that, this same dragon has the ability to corrupt and help give people their grandest desires. There is a lot to unpack here.

I’m now going to explain how I came up with this specific build. 1) It had to be a dragon. Namely, a deep dragon. Thankfully there’s a template for that. 2) It specifically had to be dragon that could shape change. Okay. Less options, but maybe there’s a way around it. 3) It has to be able to corrupt and grant the desires of others. Hmm. Again, difficult, but not impossible. Thankfully there’s a template for that too. 4) This dragon may or not be the reason why the “dark fire/black fire” existed and wiped out so many of the dwarves, causing ghosts to come up their graves and curse the mountain to be inescapable. Hellfire likely works for this one. Again, a lot to unpack. I will say that my build is likely very wrong as Book 3 of Throne of Night was supposed to come out in 2015, and Pathfinder Bestiary 6 came out in 2017. That said, this works way better than I had hoped. And with only adding a single hit die, it’s most definitely a CR 15 encounter. So glad I didn’t have to make it Young and add 2 class levels. I was so afraid I’d have to.

Not gonna lie. After talking to a lot of different users on the Kickstarter comments and the Paizo forums, the conclusion a few of us came to was the black flame was a result of either the prestige class that’s absolutely not OGL or radiation. If that was the case, I was leaning towards a solar dragon, but that doesn’t get channel radiation until way, way later, and there’s no way something that powerful would be in Book 3. Even if you added the Young template numerous times, that wouldn’t help, and would just get stupid. So this is where we stand.

Of course the real question is “how does an undead have progeny?” Well, when wishes are involved, you make sure to word it in just the right way. There were spells and items back in D&D 3.5e that helped with such things. There’s no reason a work-around couldn’t be in here too. I mean, dhampirs exist and it’s not all because a pregnant woman was bitten.

Also, anyone wondering, the shape change ability would default to looking like a female dwarf. When things go down, she’ll revert to her true form. And it’s preferable to not have her fight alongside her undead partner and the cannon golem. That might end up being an epic encounter for a 13th level party. Adding it all up together, it’s not quite an EL 18 encounter, but it’s definitely more than EL 17. The graveknight’s tactics are for it being paired with the cannon golem, but there’s no reason it can’t fight them separately, and the graveknight fight alongside his dragon queen.

As for the progeny and them having dark fire access too, Gary already released aid regarding that. “Way of the Wicked” Book 6 has the hellfire spell. It’s available to the magus, sorcerer/wizard, summoner, and witch. That’s still enough for the half-dragon children who are likely eldritch scion draconic bloodline and sorcerer draconic bloodline. Depending on the campaign, access to certain feats, wishes, etc, there might be other ways to get that or other variants of the spell. There’s definitely a 3rd party hellfire weapon property. Lots of possible options available.

And just before we get to it, the pronunciation for her name is, sin-dra-xy-ohs. Also, the dragon art is directly from Paizo’s Bestiary 6. This is what it looks like normally, but picture it without wings. Deep dragons lose their ability to fly and have a burrow speed instead.

DRAGON QUEEN CIDRAXIOS    (CR 15; 51,200 XP) Female unique corruptor young infernal deep dragon LE Large dragon (evil, extraplanar, lawful) Init +6; Senses dragon senses; Perception +21 DEFENSE AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 30 (+2 armor, +2 deflection, +2 Dex, +17 natural, –1 size) hp 217 (15d12+120) Fort +19, Ref +13, Will +16; +3 vs. divination Defensive Abilities false mind, fiery acid blood (R-DC 25, 3d6), inscrutable +3; DR 15/adamantine; Immune acid, fire, hellfire, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, sleep Weaknesses light blindness OFFENSE Speed 60 ft., burrow 30 ft., earth glide Melee bite +25 (2d6+14 plus 3d6 acid and fire/19–20), 2 claws +25 (2d6+10/19–20), tail slap +19 (1d8+14), 2 wings +19 (1d6+5) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with bite) Special Attacks breath weapon (80-ft. line, 7d10 hellfire damage, R-DC 25 half), deep gaze (W-DC 24), fiery acidic spittle, mark of vice (W-DC 24), oppressive heat, shredding stone Spell-like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +22)   At will—atonement (temptation only)   3/day—detect good, geas, helping hand, lesser geas, make whole, major creation, minor creation   1/day—sympathy (W-DC 25), wish (granted to a nonevil aligned mortal only) Oracle Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +8)   1st (4/day)—bane (W-DC 18), command (W-DC 18)   0 (at will)—detect magic, guidance, read magic, spark (R-DC 17) STATISTICS Str 28, Dex 14, Con 27, Int 20, Wis 17, Cha 24 Base Atk +15; CMB +25; CMD 39 (43 vs. trip) Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bite, claw) Skills Appraise +22, Bluff +27, Climb +20, Craft (all) +13, Diplomacy +35, Knowledge (arcana) +18, Knowledge (history, local, planes) +20, Linguistics +22, Perception +21, Sense Motive +28, Spellcraft +20, Use Magic Device +25; Racial Modifiers +8 Craft (all), +8 Diplomacy, +8 Sense Motive; +3 to all Charisma-based checks. Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Infernal, Skis’raal, Undercommon plus any 8 others SQ change shape 3/day (any animal or humanoid), compression, corruptor’s boon, imbue with ability, serpentine reach, what do you covet Gear amulet of mighty fists +1, bracers of armor +2, cloak of resistance +2, headband of alluring charisma +2, ring of protection +2, tome of leadership and influence +1 (read), Mithral Crown of Leadership (acts as a circlet of persuasion), treasure horde (gems, gold and silver pieces, mithral bars, and carved art objects made from various types of stone; total worth of 5,500 gp) SPECIAL ABILITIES Corruptor’s Boon (Su) Once per day, a corruptor can grant a touched creature a +4 profane bonus to one ability score for 24 hours. When the duration ends, the creature suffers a –4 profane penalty to the same ability score for the next 24 hours. Another application not only negates the penalty, but also restores the full bonus. Deep Gaze (Su) Buried suggestion (see below) 30 ft., Will negates (special). As suggestion, except the target need not understand the deep dragon creature and the effect is permanent until discharged. The dragon telepathically implants the suggestion into the subject. The suggestion planted must not take place immediately. When it occurs it must be based on an event or an amount of time going by. At least three days must pass before the suggestion compels the subject. During the period while the suggestion is buried, neither divination spells nor Sense Motive will reveal that the subject is under the effect of an enchantment. The subject does not attempt his saving throw until the triggering event occurs. The death of the dragon does not end this effect. Dragon Senses (Ex) Dragons have darkvision 120 ft. and blindsense 60 ft. They see four times as well as a human in dim light and twice as well in normal light. Earth Glide (Su) A young or older deep true dragon creature glides through stone, dirt, or any sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other signs of its presence. Move earth cast on an area containing an earth gliding deep dragon creature flings the dragon back 30 ft., stunning the creature for 1 round unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save. False Mind (Su) This ability offers the corruptor the benefits of a mind blank spell. When an attempt is made to detect his alignment or read his thoughts, the corruptor can cause the magic to reveal any alignment or thoughts the corruptor creature chooses, even if he is not initially aware of the attempt. Fiery Acidic Blood (Su) Any creature that damages a deep dragon with a piercing or slashing melee weapon must make a Reflex save or be subject to the damage equal to Deep dragon’s spittle (see below) as it is sprayed with blood. Melee weapons with reach don’t endanger their users in this way. Fiery Acidic Spittle (Su) All deep dragon creatures have a thick, gooey spittle that is hot enough and acidic enough to sear and corrode both flesh and rock. Normally, as they tunnel through the earth they secret this fluid to soften stone. In battle, the deep dragon adds this additional amount of damage to their natural attacks. Half the damage is acid the other half fire. Hellfire (Su) Half of the damage from hellfire is fire damage, and half is unholy energy that bypasses fire resistance and immunity. Hellproof (Ex) The infernal dragon is immune to fire, hellfire, and mind-affecting effects. Imbue with Ability (Su) Once per day as a standard action the corruptor creature can grant a creature it touches one of its spells, spell-like abilities, extraordinary abilities or even one of its supernatural abilities in a manner similar to imbue with spell ability (no save). It loses access to that ability during this time; it can dismiss this benefit as a free action regaining the use of one or more of its abilities. Inscrutable (Ex) An infernal dragon gains a bonus on saves against divination spells and effects equal to its age category number. Mark of Vice (Su) This ability works like a mark of justice (Will save negates) but it is only triggered if the creature attempts to find a redemption to its corruption (subject to GM adjudication). The mark is also invisible and is always placed over the victim’s heart. Oppressive Heat (Su) A creature that fails its save against an infernal dragon’s breath weapon can’t benefit from morale bonuses for 1 minute. If the creature fails another save against the breath weapon during this time, it is staggered for 1 round. Shredding Stone (Su) A Deep dragon creature gains a +4 bonus to confirm critical hits with its claws. What Do You Covet (Su) Once per day as a standard action a corruptor can grant a wish to a nonevil aligned mortal (cannot be an elemental, fey, outsider, or nonliving creature).

------------------------------------ Sources: Corruptor creature - http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/corruptor-creature Deep dragon creature - http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/deep-dragon-creature

#throne of night #michael clarke #Michael D. Clarke #gary mcbride #fire mountain games #drow campaign #drow #dwarf #dwarf campaign #dwarves #dragon #D&D #dnd #dungeons & dragons #Dungeons and Dragons #pathfinder #pathfinder 1e #pathfinder rpg #pathfinder roleplaying game #roleplaying game #d20 #SpiralMagus #ttrpg #ttrpg art #deviantart #deviant art #kickstarter #adventure path #dark elf #book 3

[bountyofbeads]

Virginia’s Black Lawmakers to Boycott Trump at Jamestown Ceremony https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/us/politics/trump-jamestown-race.html

"The real story here isn’t that Trump is trashing an African American whose reputation is something less than admirable. It’s that the President of the United States—the President!—is purposefully stoking racial tensions and animosity for political gain. Trump has no interest in uniting Americans. He never did. He is the destroyer of comity, civility, compromise, common sense, and, if left unchecked, democracy."

JACKSON, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

"How Americans are letting that man get away with this increasingly, overtly racist nonsense is disturbing. What, exactly, does Mr Trump have to say before your politicians and citizens find a spine and (at the very least) remove that man from office, if not send him to jail? I never thought I’d see the day when America would surrender so meekly to its own worst, cowardly impulses, leaving someone doing his best to divide and inflame the nation sitting there, unchallenged."

JOE, DUBLIN IRELAND

" Nobody is pretending there's no problem in Baltimore. Taking revenge on a well-respected congressman by ranting and raving like a 6 year old is hardly a pathway to solutions. "Disgusting, rat and rodent infested" district where no human being would want to live?! In fact many live in District 7, which stretches north to a well-to-do suburban area on both sides - and the area Trump is specifically calling out as disgusting is home to my synagogue and many of our congregants. It's a big stretch to even contemplate that Trump had the best interests of our beloved city in mind when he let loose his impulsive and churish tweets. If he wants to be part of the solution, he needs to shut up and get to work. And yes, when someone has a pattern of behavior labeling people of color it's not hard to see that singling out as racism. I'm really very confident that when DT was spewing his hatred towards Cummings and the 'hellhole' he represents, he wasn't thinking about my synagogue, but about the residents of color we call our neighbors." JANE ADDAMS, BALTIMORE

"Trump has positioned himself right where he wants to be -- the center of media attention with a diversion from adverse publicity related to his impeachable offenses and involvement with Russians and other autocrats. His base won't desert him and everyone else already despises him, so he gains by the diversions and 24-hour news cycle coverage. The media writes and talks about little other than "racist" Trump. Maybe he is or isn't a racist, but he is the Master of Ceremonies of the greatest sham on earth. PT Barnum could have learned much from the circus master." NATE GRAY, PITTSBURGH

"He is an ineffective President. Trump uses these Twitter tactics to deflect from his own broken promises. He is not a great negotiator, he was clearly snookered by Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer earlier this year. No doubt the Chinese will do the same-- or worse. He has done nothing to improve healthcare or lower the cost. The economy got a small boost but at the cost of $2trillion in extra deficit. Worse he picks a fight with our Nato allies and then unilaterally withdraws from the Iranian nuclear agreement. He loves the North Korea and and they continue to shoot missiles towards Japan. Who feels safer with him in charge? I understand he was elected as a wild card to shake things up but what has he accomplished ? Has he brought the country together to solve global warming or the national debt ? He does not have the temperament to look past his own self image or his own wallet. He has little if any self control and that's why he does these childish tweets." GLEN D, LINCOLN PARK, NJ

"So he brings in a group of right wing evangelicals who just happen to be black to say that he is not a racist. Oh, really? And this was all staged by Kushner who just happens to be the biggest slum lord in Baltimore?" ACM, BALTIMORE

"This is neither about Baltimore nor Al Sharpton. so don't be misled. This is about Trump increasingly relying on outrage and racism to win over many Americans who are themselves racist." RX, NYC

"I wish I could publish photographs here because then I'd post one of the Confederate flaggers who now plague our downtown every Saturday, intimidating everyone, looking for conflicts and spreading their message of white supremacy. Before this President, their presence had become less. Now they are there every weekend and wherever they can find a place to demean, hurt, and spread their poison. Here in the South, every single day this hateful, ignorant man is President, the worst elements in our small towns become more emboldened—and more dangerous. I hope right-thinking people in Washington understand this and know that their failure to act swiftly against this man is causing havoc and real harm in real people's lives." ME, NC

"Divide, divide, divide. That's all the President knows how to do. Will we ever get someone in the White House who can unite? And Mr. Trump knows full well that this is what gets him the Electoral College win We can only expect more of it. Also, this type of psychological projection fits his authoritarian personality to a tee. And among the leaders of other nations, he seems to be most comfortable with those of a similar inclination." T MORRIS FLORIDA

"This is exhausting. Trump's Twitter account is nothing but a toxic stew of hatred, resentment, and xenophobia designed to keep his base energized. He is clearly happiest when he is stirring the pot and able to keep the outrage boiling. But how much longer before all this rage leads to actual violence? The cost to America's soul will be immeasurable." MARTHA, PHILADELPHIA

"The politics of racism is the politics of separation and exclusivity. Mocking one area of the inner city and who lives there is a way of making those who do not live there feel superior. And that feeling of superiority is the root of racism. Trump has never walked down streets in a struggling neighborhood, taught in an inner city school or felt the struggles of the people living there. Criticizing from the outside is easy and a convenient way to divert once again attention from his own aberrant behavior which comes not from personal struggles, but a life of privilege and egotism."JUST ROBERT, NC

"So what is Trump as POTUS doing to revitalize urban policy? NOTHING. This isn't just the job of liberals. POTUS needs to set the agenda--if he's truly the president of the "united states" and not just his base. But who has Trump appointed to those cabinet posts to deal with the issues facing those "transitional" zones in cities? What are they doing? Ben Carson at HUD slashing housing programs and budgets? I don't even know who's in charge at Health and Human Welfare. Then again, since when has Trump ever cared about that--health and human welfare? Trump is not delivering a "hard truth" to us when he maligns Baltimore, Elijah Cummings, and now Al Sharpton. Trump has power as POTUS to do something about the conditions he mocks, but he chooses not to. Why is that? What it tells me: Trump is ginning up his base like the racist shock jock he is. He's unabashedly making racism an appeal in the 2020 campaign. Full stop. If you align yourself with Trump's hatreds and cynicism, that's on you." JACKIE, HAMDEN CT

"Baltimore, under the leadership of Elija Cummings?" Does Trump even know how government works?" ELLA, USA

" I have come to believe that Trump is driven by a combination of fear and survival. He did not intend to win the presidency but when he did, realized with horror that the murky history across all aspects of his life would eventually be revealed. He now has to stay in power and under the legal protection of the presidency for the survival of his family and brand. As such he will do and say anything to further that aim, without any regard for the consequences or collateral damage. He doesn’t care about the moral responsibilities of his position, the Republican Party, conservatism or any grounding principle - simply a strategy to consolidate his reliable base and to divide his enemies. It’s that simple - he has to stay in power to stay out of jail. That’s quite a motivator and it’s that simple." IAN, NORTH CAROLINA

Virginia's black lawmakers to boycott Trump's speech at Jamestown ceremony TODAY.

Virginia’s Black Lawmakers to Boycott Trump at Jamestown Ceremony

By Peter Baker | Published July 30, 2019 | New York Times | Posted July 30, 2019 9:57 AM ET |

WASHINGTON — African-American state lawmakers from Virginia will boycott President Trump’s scheduled speech in Jamestown on Tuesday at a ceremony to commemorate the 400th anniversary of representative democracy in the Western Hemisphere, citing the president’s inflammatory comments about critics of color.

The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, which represents members of the House of Delegates and State Senate, said in a statement that its members cannot “in good conscience sit silently” as a president who has promoted racial divisions is given such a prominent platform. Mr. Trump is due to fly to Virginia and speak at the Jamestown Settlement Museum at 11:15 a.m.

“It is impossible to ignore the emblem of hate and disdain that the president represents,” the caucus said in its statement. The statement added that Mr. Trump’s “repeated attacks on black legislators and comments about black communities” make him “ill-suited to honor and commemorate such a monumental period in history, especially if this nation is to move forward with the ideals of ‘democracy, inclusion, and opportunity.’”

The lawmakers’ protest came as Mr. Trump has employed racist tropes in a caustic war of words with critics. He told four Democratic congresswomen of color to “go back” to their home countries, even though three were born in the United States and the fourth was naturalized as a teenager. In recent days, he has repeatedly assailed Representative Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, and his “rat and rodent infested” majority-black district and targeted other foes like the Rev. Al Sharpton, who he said “Hates Whites & Cops.”

The ceremony on Tuesday is meant to mark the first meeting of elected legislators in the new world. On July 30, 1619, a group of 22 representatives of plantations or settlements gathered in a church in Jamestown for the first time in what would be known as the House of Burgesses, the precursor to state legislatures and Congress in the centuries to come.

The Tuesday event already was fraught for African-American lawmakers because in those days only white male property holders were eligible to vote. Moreover, this year also represents the 400th anniversary of the first slaves brought to the colonies that would later become the United States.

The caucus is holding alternative events in Richmond and will focus “on those individuals who fought for a more just, equitable, and inclusive democracy,” said Senator Jennifer McClellan, the group’s vice chair.

But Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax, Virginia’s only African-American statewide elected official, will attend Tuesday’s ceremony, saying the twin anniversaries “far supersede the petty and racist actions of the current occupant of the White House.”

In an essay posted on Medium, he said, “The bigoted words of the current president will thankfully soon be swept into the dustbin of history. Our democracy, born in Virginia, will live on.”

Virginia has been roiled by its own controversies this year. Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, has rebuffed widespread calls to resign after the discovery of a 1984 medical school yearbook that included a picture of a man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan robes on his personal page. Mr. Northam at first admitted being in the photograph, then denied that he was either man.

The state’s attorney general, Mark R. Herring, later admitted that he once wore blackface at a party as a college student. And Mr. Fairfax has been accused of sexual assault by two women.

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