If the days of this long, long year were the pages of a book, we all would have grown tired of flipping them half a lifetime ago. Will this painful story ever crawl to an end?
Who's the author of this book anyway?
A group of alienated, confused men in Michigan plotted to overthrow the government? Kidnap the Governor? Blow up bridges? Rush the Capitol building as an armed force?
As of this writing, we don't know enough about these deluded characters to say whether it's just that they never outgrew video games, or that they unwittingly fell into a network of meth addicts, or perhaps they are part of some weird cult. All we know is it was one of their ilk who carried out the worst incident of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, by blowing up the Oklahoma City federal building.
And that they represent more of the same.
C'mon dudes! You're giving my home state a bad name.
Of course that we just happen to have as President the man who has launched baseless claims that the upcoming election is a fraud, and said that his supporters should invade the polling places, that they should arm themselves and "liberate" Michigan.
It's highly possible that he is in fact their inspiration. if so, expect them at trial to claim they were only "joking."
If so, the joke is on them.
For the person who inspired them is the Enemy of the People.
***
If you've not read Ibsen's play recently, the news simply won't make sense.
* Coronavirus Hit the U.S. Long Before We Knew -- Months before travel bans and lockdowns, Americans were transmitting the virus across the country. (WSJ)
* Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issues scathing rebuke to Trump -- She issues a powerful statement following the news that six men were charged in an alleged plot to kidnap her, according to a federal criminal complaint. (CNN)
* Facebook Removes Network Tied to Conservative Group Over Fake Accounts -- The social-media giant pulled 200 accounts and other content linked to Turning Point USA, a conservative political youth group, for posing as fake users to praise President Trump and criticize Joe Biden. (WSJ)
* WHO reports record one-day rise in global coronavirus cases amid European outbreak (Reuters)
* Military blindsided by Trump’s new Afghan troop withdrawal (AP)
* A look at the polls reveals that Biden has a clear advantage in Arizona. While some polls are even better for him, the average of all the polls has him up about five points. (CNN)
* Latest Swing State Polls: MI - Biden +7.4, PA - Biden +7.0, WI - Biden +7.0 (538)
* Walter Reed staff were required to sign nondisclosure agreements during Trump’s November 2019 medical visit (WashPo) We still don't know what that was about. (DW)
* Federal and state law enforcement officials have begun expanded preparations for the possibility of widespread unrest at the polls on Election Day, a response to extraordinarily high tensions among voters and anxieties about safety stoked in part by President Trump. (AP)
* McConnell avoids White House, citing laxity on masks, COVID-19 precautions (Reuters)
***
"I am still uncertain as to whether I should call [An Enemy of the People] a comedy or a straight drama. It may [have] many traits of comedy, but it also is based on a serious idea." -- Henrik Ibsen (1882)
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