Blue Mass Group

The Insurrection Act of 1807 was amended in 2006:

Congress amended the Insurrection Act of 1807. The Act enables the President to deploy the military “to suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.” The amended Act expands the language of the original Act to include natural disasters, epidemics, or other serious public health emergencies, terrorist attacks or incidents, or other conditions. Opponents of the amendment in 2006, most notably all fifty governors, criticized the amendment as a presidential power grab aimed at suppressing the power of the states and increasing the role of the military in domestic affairs.

But, you say, what about the Posse Comitatus Act?

The Posse Comitatus Act outlaws the willful use of any part of the Army or Air Force to execute the law unless expressly authorized by the Constitution or an act of Congress, but it is also just a statute (a law passed by a legislature, as opposed to a constitutional provision), so it has no special power over the Insurrection Act.

Moreover, the Insurrection Act was amended far more recently, which gives it some more legal chops – POSSIBLY. (It just depends on how a particular appellate court decides to see it.)

It’s irrelevant, because Governor Stooge of Florida or Governor Stooge of Alabama or Governor Stooge of Georgia will no doubt beg to be the one to please the fuhrer first.

He’s trying, with skill in terms of appealing to his base, which is all he cares about.

This is the just the beginning of the bid for dictatorship that he desires. He will fail, because our populace will not abide it. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to our black brothers and sisters, who will never take any of this lying down. Neither should we.

They see through him. White men don’t, to our eternal shame.

One thing is obvious. This is not the end of his bids to subvert our system and install his mafia. His Reichstag year will continue. He will keep trying until he is stopped.

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Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square

On Saturday, May 30, 2020, police in Minneapolis, without warning, shot flash-bang grenades and tear-gas at an MSNBC crew while it was broadcasting a live spot by MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi. Mr. Velshi himself is hit by a police projectile at the end of the spot. On the same day, a police vehicle DROVE INTO A CROWD of protesters who were pelting it with water bottles and trash. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio made excuses for the police perpetrators when he should have been calling for prosecution and conviction for attempted murder (among other charges).

The day before, a black CNN news crew was arrested on live television by Minneapolis police without warning. A white CNN reporter in the same demonstration was ignored.

Let’s not delude ourselves about what is happening here. White racist America has been arming racist cops with military-grade weapons while pursuing racist policies against blacks for more than a decade. We saw a dress rehearsal in the chaotic Keystone Cops response to the Boston Marathon bombing.

Blacks, Hispanics, immigrants (regardless of legal status) and other scapegoats are being targeted by authorities RIGHT NOW. Government forces are arresting journalists RIGHT NOW. Donald Trump is threatening an executive order to attempt to silence social media RIGHT NOW.

Just so that we’re all clear about the players, let me point out that a Democrat was or is governor of each state (Minnesota, New York, and Massachusetts) where and when these events took place. Similarly, a Democrat was or is mayor of each city (Minnesota, New York City, Boston) when these events took place.

This systemic racism is just as much a Democratic problem as Republican.

If there are ANY sane heads left in government, they MUST stop this tyranny RIGHT NOW. Those who have been saying “it can’t happen here, not in America” are NOT paying attention.

We are witnessing America’s Tiananmen Square moment. America claims to be a democracy. America claims to respect the rule of law.

Will we allow our police and military (the National Guard are participating in the violence against protesters in Minneapolis) to continue this brutality in our name?

I suggest that it’s past time to worry rather less about what might or might not happen in November, and to focus our attention on what is going down RIGHT NOW.

If we do not, then November 2, 2020 might be just another day of tyranny in the New America.

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I do not always agree with Jacobin founder and DSA member Bhaskar Sunkara, but his Op-Ed in today’s New York Times does his movement a service:

First, he acknowledges that Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee because he won the support of more Democratic primary voters than Bernie Sanders:

millions of ordinary voters, rallied behind Joe Biden.

Many parts of the Sanders agenda had the support of a majority of Americans, but the coalition around the campaign was narrower than we thought. Despite the Vermont senator’s strong showing, it’s still President Barack Obama’s party. For now, at least.

I voted for Bernie twice and look forward to someday voting for AOC or Ayanna Pressley for president, but I think it is important for leftists to acknowledge that the Sanders campaign lost the nomination fair and square and the movement he started has some work to do building the kind of winning coalition that could lead to a socialist nominee in the future. AOC for one, seems to have already learned this lesson and is busy building those bridges.

Sankara is correct that the DSA and other organizations are not particularly helpful to Biden to begin with and would lose too much credibility by backing him. That does not mean they should sit on the sidelines or work against him, but to instead rally around downballot candidates and issue-based organizing. The kind of hard work that socialists and others on the left will need to do if they want to gain more power. Third party agitation or staying home is not the way.

As he puts it:

Such noise distracts attention from the real work that Democratic Socialists of America chapters across the country are doing this election cycle. Contrary to stereotypes, we are not pushing a third candidate or eager to see Mr. Trump’s re-election. Instead we are campaigning for core demands like Medicare for All, saving the U.S. Postal Service from bipartisan destruction, organizing essential workers to fight for better pay and conditions throughout the coronavirus crisis and backing downballot candidates, mostly running on the Democratic ballot line.

This is the type of activity that if successful will bolster voter turnout and remind millions that politics can improve their lives. Far from unhinged sectarianism, this is a pragmatic strategy. The United States has a political system rigged against third parties, so groups like the D.S.A. aren’t trying to build an independent ballot line in vain.

Sanders raised close to a half a billion dollars for his unsuccessful presidential runs, imagine what that money could be doing downballot where it will go farther and lead to more concrete policy changes? Imagine what we all could be doing instead of arguing about a nomination we lost fair and square and can now do nothing to change? Sankara shows a path forward for lefties who cannot be persuaded to support Biden and a possible detente. Biden should get all of our votes, but for those who strongly disagree with him, they should spend their time and money on other priorities.

My challenge to the Biden critics on this blog is to get off your computers and start campaigning for Alex Morse, ranked choice voting, and progressive legislators. Those campaigns and candidates need your time and money far more than the Green Party.

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