Prisoners of the Second Amendment

June 2, 2022

[Audio Version here]

          Mass killings in the US continue unabated as US Senators gingerly tiptoe over dead bodies piling up due to their inaction. Mitch McConnel has decreed that Senate Republicans are permitted to address only “mental illness” and “hardening of schools” in response to the massacre at Uvalde. Neither topic addresses the core issue—too many guns designed to kill people quickly and efficiently. Indeed, on the day that the mass killer in Buffalo was indicted for murder, terrorism, and hate crimes, another gunman opened fire in a public building that cannot be converted into an armed fortress—a hospital. See CNN, Tulsa, Oklahoma, shooting: At least 4 people were killed on St. Francis Hospital campus, police say.

To preserve their right to own weapons of war, Republicans want to create a “fortress America” in which all buildings are “hardened” as a defense to mass shootings—thereby making all Americans prisoners of the Second Amendment.

          To distract the public from the role of guns, Texas law enforcement tried to blame the Uvalde massacre on a teacher who allegedly left a back-door propped open—a slander that has been retracted by Texas officials. But Texas law enforcement isn’t giving up on its efforts to blame the school for the Uvalde massacre. On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott continued to cast blame on the school by calling for “unannounced school safety audits.” Given what we know about what transpired at Uvalde, Abbott should instead be calling for “unannounced police preparedness audits” as well as unannounced audits of police on such basic topics as truthfulness, courage, and acceptance of responsibility.

          We cannot convert all public spaces into fortresses—which is the GOP answer to every mass shooting (now that they can no longer invoke the “good guy with a gun” myth). Ted Cruz wants schools to have a “single bulletproof door [with] bulletproof glass” guarded by an armed officer. But mass shootings have taken place in churches, synagogues, markets, malls, county fairs, restaurants, subways, nail salons, parking lots, navy bases, bowling alleys, private residences, bars, office buildings, and libraries.

          We should gladly accept whatever “gun safety” reforms, if any, emerge from Senate negotiations currently underway. But whatever crumbs McConnell dispenses to take the heat off of GOP Senate candidates in 2022 should be seen for what they are—a smokescreen designed to do the least amount possible while doing nothing to address the issue of guns designed to kill people. To address that issue, American voters must elect leaders who will finally recognize that America has a gun problem—not merely a gun safety problem.

          Beto O’Rourke has taken a principled stand on the issue of banning assault rifles. Two days before the massacre at Uvalde, O’Rourke said the following at a campaign appearance:

I think we are fools to believe anything other than that these weapons of war will continue to be used with greater frequency against our fellow Americans. It’s why I’ve taken the position that I don’t think we should have AR-15s and AK-47s in civilian life. They belong on a battlefield. [N]o one should be able to purchase an AR-15 or an AK-47 because they’re designed to kill humans.

          There is reason to hope that we can win this issue at the ballot box. Per The Trace, a newsletter devoted to covering gun violence, NRA membership revenue is down 43% since 2018, and attendance at the NRA national convention in 2022 dropped by 24% from 2019. When Trump spoke at the convention last Friday, about a quarter of 3,600 seats in the main hall were empty. Moreover, the NRA is on the defensive—about 20% of its revenue is devoted to defending state investigations and lawsuits.

          We don’t have to change the views of every gun owner in America, just enough of them (and persuadable independents) to win close races in swing states. Sadly, the macabre procession of mass killings will make the point more powerfully than all of the arguments, presentations, and studies that gun control proponents can muster. In the meantime, we must not relent in our demands for real reforms that address the root problem—too many guns designed to kill people in the hands of Americans who have no right to own them.

Joe Biden’s steady leadership regarding Putin’s war on Ukraine.

          President Biden published an op-ed in the New York Times on Tuesday in which he clearly defined “what America will do and not do” in Ukraine. See NYTimes, Opinion | President Biden: What America Will and Will Not Do in Ukraine. Biden recognized that for Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war, it must occupy a position of strength and therefore authorized the delivery of medium-range, multiple rocket launchers. But Biden went on to say

          We do not seek a war between NATO and Russia. As much as I disagree with Mr. Putin, and find his actions an outrage, the United States will not try to bring about his ouster in Moscow. So long as the United States or our allies are not attacked, we will not be directly engaged in this conflict . . . .

          Biden continues to show a steady hand in Ukraine during an unstable and dangerous period. The rhetoric in Russia is increasingly apocalyptic, with Kremlin-endorsed commentators declaring that “World War III has already begun” and that “America will pay a heavy price” for supporting Ukraine. Biden’s op-ed was the right message as he provides Ukraine with additional firepower to defend itself—and bring about a negotiated solution to the war.

Another Trump conspiracy theory bites the dust.

          A day after a jury slapped down Special Counsel John Durham’s ridiculous indictment against Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman, another Trump conspiracy theory was quashed. Recall that Trump claimed in 2017 that someone in the Obama administration “unmasked” Michael Flynn’s identity in an intelligence report regarding an intercepted telephone call between an “unidentified American” and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The alleged “unmasking” was one of the bases for Trump’s claim that the Obama administration was “spying” on the Trump campaign during the transition period. Bill Barr suggested to Congress that there might be some basis for the “spying” claim and ordered an investigation. Barr never released the results of his investigation.

          It is now clear why Barr buried the results of his investigation. It is because the investigation demonstrated that no one in the Obama administration “unmasked” Flynn’s identity before Trump’s inauguration. See Talking Points Memo, The ‘Investigate The Investigators’ Lines Of Attack Are Falling, One Day At A Time. Per TPM, the US Attorney who investigated the alleged “spying” via unmasking concluded as follows:

I . . . examined whether any senior officials [in the Obama administration] had obtained General Flynn’s identity . . . through an unmasking request made during the transition period. The answer is “no.” I have not found evidence that senior US officials unmasked the identities of US persons contained in intelligence reports for political purposes or other inappropriate reasons during the 2016 election period or the ensuing transition period.

          So, Bill Barr suggested that the Obama administration might have “spied” on the Trump campaign but never bothered to report that an investigation disproved that conspiracy theory. Bill Bar remains the worst Attorney General in US history.

Chief Justice John Roberts investigates law clerks for leaks but ignores Clarence Thomas’ conflict of interest in ruling on matters relating to coup-plotting Ginni Thomas.

          Chief Justice John Roberts has demanded the cell phone records of Supreme Court law clerks and required them to sign affidavits in connection with the leak of Justice Alito’s draft opinion in Dobbs v Jackson’s Women’s Health. The clerks are understandably concerned that they are being interrogated while others with access to the opinion—including the justices themselves—are apparently not being required to submit to the same interrogation. The law clerks are considering hiring legal counsel to represent them.

          Roberts’ ham-fisted investigation of the leak of the draft opinion compares poorly to his apparent refusal to investigate whether Justice Thomas acted improperly in voting on an issue involving his wife’s coup-plotting emails with Mark Meadows. As Tim O’Brien of MSNBC asked, “Are Ginni Thomas and her husband turning over their cellphone records too?” With the feckless John Roberts at the helm of the Court, the answer to O’Brien’s question is, “Not a chance in hell.”

Republican National Committee hatches plan to appoint partisan poll workers to create chaos in heavily Democratic districts.

          Audio recordings have emerged of an RNC “election integrity” operative telling poll-worker recruits how to challenge voters in heavily Democratic districts. The operative’s advice includes establishing relationships with “friendly” local district attorneys, judges, and police who will file charges against “suspicious” voters who, for example, don’t “look like” they should be eligible to vote. See Politico, ‘It’s going to be an army’: Tapes reveal GOP plan to contest elections.

          The ultimate goal of this plan is to create chaos by flooding the legal system with spurious complaints. That chaos may, in turn, prevent certification of an election that would otherwise be won by the Democratic nominee. A key part of the plan is for lawyers to file frivolous claims. Lawyers are willing to file frivolous claims because state bar licensing organizations have failed to move aggressively against many of the lawyers who participated in the 2020 coup attempt.

          For example, Cleta Mitchell was “Trump’s lawyer” on the call with the Georgia Secretary of State in which Trump asked the Secretary to “find” 11,780 more votes to overturn the Georgia election. Instead of explaining herself to state bar authorities or giving testimony to a grand jury, Cleta Mitchell is out recruiting more ethically challenged attorneys to overturn the 2024 election. See NYTimes, Lawyer Who Plotted to Overturn Trump Loss Recruits Election Deniers to Watch Over the Vote.

          The complete answer to these attempts to create chaos is to avoid elections that are decided by a few thousand votes. Biden was able to defeat 65 lawsuits challenging his win because his margins of victory in swing states were substantial enough to render challenges ineffectual or moot. We must turn out at historic levels in 2022 and 2024—notwithstanding inflation, internal tensions in the Democratic Party, exhaustion, or malaise. As one bumper sticker says, “Without democracy, inflation is the least of your worries.”

          Let’s rise to the occasion to preserve democracy, then work out our differences later.

Concluding Thoughts.

          Every time I start to worry about 2022, I am buoyed by the efforts of readers who are in the trenches fighting for victory. Today, I interviewed founders Julie Becker and Kate Friedman of Blue Wave Coalition Miami Dade. As the name suggests, the organization is laser-focused on registering and encouraging Democrats to vote in Miami Dade County in Florida. For a small organization, it is incredibly sophisticated and targeted in its approach. The podcast is here: Blue Wave Coalition Miami Dade | Today’s Edition Podcast with Robert Hubbell.

          For example, BWCMD is reaching out to “inconsistent” voters in specific precincts that can make a difference in the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential election. BWCMD sends a “welcome” letter to every new Democrat registered in the county. It follows up with every Democrat who switches to Republican party affiliation to ensure that the voter’s party affiliation has not been “hijacked” by GOP operatives. (Yes, sadly, that is a “thing” in Florida.) BWCMD contacts every registered Democrat in targeted precincts not signed up for vote-by-mail and offers instructions on how to do so. (Help them by donating here: Donate – Blue Wave Coalition Miami Dade.)

          There is a lot more, but you get the picture. And Blue Wave Coalition Miami Dade is run by two readers who, like you, first came to political activism after Trump’s victory in 2016. Julie and Kate run an efficient, lean organization that contacts tens of thousands of voters in an important county in a swing state. Multiply their efforts by thousands of other grassroots organizations that did not exist in 2016, and you can get a sense of the “ground game” that Democrats are mounting in 2022 and 2024.

          Should we worry about the “army” of partisan poll workers the GOP recruits for 2022? Yes! But the antidote to the GOP effort is a Democratic army of activists who are registering Democrats and encouraging them to vote. That is the key to defeating the GOP’s efforts to win in 2024 by creating chaos. Our turnout strategy worked in 2020. We can do it again. Indeed, we must do it again to defend democracy and preserve the rule of law.

          Talk to you tomorrow!