Don't Yell Fire

The potential for violence is already casting a pall over the election, mainly because Trump fumes that the results will be invalid if he loses, which seems increasingly likely.

Do his supporters buy this nonsense?

Apparently they do. And almost the entire Republican establishment cowers in fear of his wrath, as gangs of his supporters train for civil war and spread conspiracy theories.

Many people have asked me if I ever dreamed our country would come to this.

I did not. Political apocalypse is not in my DNA. Plus, having grown up in a family that was equally Republican and Democrat, in the state where the GOP was founded, I've never identified with the extreme left's disdain for conservative thought.

Many conservative ideas appeal to me, including eliminating government waste, free markets, and free trade, but I also believe in strict environmental regulation to temper the excesses of the free market.

To me, environmental concerns are not externalities but essentialities.

And since we live in an age when giant monopolies control our economy, we need a big government to counter big corporations.

I've always been liberal on social issues.

The biggest quandary facing people like me are the threats to our unwavering faith in free speech. That belief means we have a difficult time justifying the suppression of the ugly hate speech voiced by right-wing extremists, because free speech means free speech.

Our only feasible excuse is we agree that people are not allowed to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater and our public sphere is one such crowded space. 

But, as a result, bit by bit our freedoms may be eroded.

It pains me to write these words.

***

It pains me to aggregate the news too.

* Trump’s Taxes Show He Engineered a Sudden Windfall in 2016 -- Over $21 million in highly unusual payments from the Las Vegas hotel Donald Trump owns with Phil Ruffin were routed through other Trump companies, then directed to Mr. Trump. (NYT)

* White House hosted Covid 'superspreader' event, says Dr Fauci (BBC)

* Trump Won’t Travel Over Weekend, Ending Florida Rally Plan (Bloomberg)

* Trump invites thousands to hear him speak from White House balcony on Saturday (CNN)

* Democrats surge past Republicans in early voting (The Hill)

* Trump steel tariffs bring job losses to swing state Michigan (Reuters)

* Azerbaijan and Armenia Agree to Cease-Fire in Nagorno-Karabakh (NYT)

* Watchdog GAO urges more action to protect planes from hackers (AP)

* The U.S. debt is now projected to be larger than the U.S. economy (CNN)

* Donald Trump lashed out at U.S. Attorney General William Barr for not doing more to prosecute his political enemies, including arresting Obama-era officials who the president accuses — without evidence — of illegally spying on his 2016 campaign. (TNS)

* Trump's law-and-order mantra goes missing in wake of domestic terror plot against Democratic governor (CNN)

* Wolverine Watchmen, extremist group implicated in Michigan kidnapping plot, trained for ‘civil war’ (WashPo)

* Doomsday Camps Set To “Activate” Due To Risk Of Election Violence (Drudge)

* From Hiding, Kyrgyzstan’s Leader Declares State of Emergency (NYT)

* South Carolina U.S. Senate debate changes format after Lindsey Graham refuses to take Covid-19 test (CNN)

* Trump got a $21 million tax break for preserving the forest outside his N.Y. mansion. Now the deal is under investigation. (WashPo)

***

“America will never be destroyed from the outside." -- Abraham Lincoln

-30-