Commenter Archive

Comments by Saul Degraw in reply to North*

On “Open Mic for the week of 3/3/2025

Authoritarianism continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/us/politics/trump-perkins-coie.html

With the order, Perkins Coie becomes the second such firm to be targeted by the president. Late last month, he signed a similar memorandum attacking Covington & Burling, which has done pro bono legal work for Jack Smith, who as special counsel pursued two separate indictments of Mr. Trump.

While the Covington memorandum sought to strip clearances and contracts from that firm, the Perkins Coie order goes much further, seeking to also limit its lawyers’ access to federal buildings, officials and jobs in a way that could cast a chilling effect over the entire legal profession.

The president’s animosity toward Perkins Coie dates back eight years, to when two lawyers at the firm, Marc Elias and Michael Sussmann, played roles in what eventually became an F.B.I. investigation to determine if anyone on the 2016 Trump presidential campaign conspired with Russian agents to influence the outcome of that election. Both lawyers left that firm years ago.

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https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/national-park-record-visitor-numbers-downplayed-20206558.php

National Parks staff told to downplay record number of visitors in 2024. They want to destroy our greatest treasures

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I generally think Newsom is a good governor and gets way more heat than he deserves but his new podcast and comments on transathletes are perplexing and boneheaded

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Trump revokes legal status for 240K Ukrainians because he is a cruel and malignant king: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-plans-revoke-legal-status-ukrainians-who-fled-us-sources-say-2025-03-06/

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Maybe on this one but Trump and Co are still basically dismantling the Federal Government in ways which could take decades to unwind, if it could be unwound at all.

I agree with Bouie’s take that Trump wants revenge against the entire American population for rejecting him. He is going to destroy our standing, our reputation, and our national parks, one of our great collective treasures. I am not in a mood to be blase about anything he does.

And Jaybird, your panda bear contrarian can’t give a straight yes or no answer on whether I have to deal with a Leo Frank denier or other anti-Semites in good faith or if I can just dismiss them.

I am not sure why I should be required to find this kind of willful contrarianism cute, endearing, or acceptable.

Wishy-washy defenses of anti-Semites have the same issue as ironic goat fornication.

Oppositional Defiance Disorder is not a carte blanche excuse against human dignity or decency.

I’m sorry but this is not the time for indulgence in such antics

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https://www.mediamatters.org/manosphere/youtube-andrew-tate-claims-america-doesnt-have-free-speech-because-you-cant-speak-out

Andrew Tate claims the United States doesn’t have free speech because you can’t speak out against Jews.

Am I supposed to argue with him
in good faith, Jaybird?

Yes or no?

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If someone is advocating blood libel against Jews and/or is a Leo Frank Truther, am I supposed to treat their argument with good faith? Yes or no answer only please.

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Macron warns Europe that the United States might not be on their side if there is war with Russia: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/05/macron-will-make-televised-address-to-ease-french-voters-concerns-about-trump

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Bouie argues that Trump's second term is an act of revenge against the American People for rejecting him in 2020: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/opinion/trump-revenge-american-people.html

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Would you say you are pathologically incapable of a non-contrarian response?

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Okay. I don't care if Manicheanism is a heresy or not. Yes, there should be difficult conversations on contentious issues but there are limits and things must be conducted in good-faith.

I see very little reason to see that things conversations can happen with Trump supporters or Musk supporters. As pointed out above, the Deputy Press Secretary for the Department of Defense is a Leo Frank truther. This is rank blood libel and anti-Semitic conspiracy. I'm not morally required to state confronting this as evil is a heresy and I am not required to debate Leo Frank truthism endlessly.

“Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre

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The articles I read implied that the Parks Service could charge things from $2 to $10,000 without sending it to a regional office for approval and this is the change

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AP apparently has an internal memo re cutting 80K jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs

DOI requires authorization for all purchases above 1 dollar from Parks Service employees

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Please cite to where in Jewish texts it says that Manicheanism is heresy. Are you saying I should be totes okay with the fact that the Trump admin is hiring anti-Semites who believe in blood libel for public facing rolls?

Anyway, the trolls comment was deleted so, clearly he or she passed a line.

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We are getting a lot of Trump trolls here

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She also appears to be an anti-trans activist: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/03/the-department-of-defense-deputy-press-secretary-is-a-leo-frank-troofer

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We are now the baddies: "UPDATE: The US has stopped sharing "all" intelligence with Ukraine, a Ukrainian source has said.
Previously the source, with knowledge of the situation, said the halt in the follow of intelligence had been "selective", only affecting information that could be used for attacks inside Russia.
"A few hours ago, the exchange of all information was stopped," the source said."

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The Deputy Press Secretary for the Department of Defense is a Leo Frank truther:

https://bsky.app/profile/tristanl.ee/post/3ljlvcefqw223

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https://www.kpbs.org/news/border-immigration/2025/02/28/german-tourist-held-indefinitely-in-san-diego-area-immigrant-detention-facility

ICE detains German citizen with valid visa for no other reason than performative cruelty and a power flex

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"Downside: Current events, future implications, an immense amount of avoidable human suffering

Upside: I was very right, and people who dismissed my warnings as outlandish, hysterical, and biased (or whatever) were badly wrong, in ways they won't acknowledge nor learn from

I don't like this trade"

https://bsky.app/profile/nicholasgrossman.bsky.social/post/3ljjcwnx45s2i

On “Open Mic for the week of 3/3/2025

The very idiotic tariff wars have begun

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