BC POLITICS
Saved by @SteveeRogerr

The White House just released details about building the National Garden of American Heroes — or as I prefer to think of it, the Social Studies Hall of Fame.

Some notes on what Trump won in his war against symbols:

 Last summer, Trump gave a July 3 address at Mount Rushmore. His speech dwelt on vandalism and symbolism. He compared the effort to suppress BLM protests to America's participation in WWII.

That was the roll-out for the National Garden of American Heroes: https://t.co/pSoQPopEop
Trump signed another executive order on June 26 on monuments and memorials. This order spelled out severe consequences for people accused of destroying federal *and even state* memorials, including sentences of up to 10 years. https://t.co/XfrdVAnczW
Trump's order on monuments was hugely consequential. Lawfare obtained a DHS document authorizing "expanded intelligence activities necessary to mitigate the significant threat to homeland security" — domestic surveillance of BLM — rooted in this order. https://t.co/dyqQ1CsUIG
Then-AG Bill Barr also found in the White House executive order on monuments the authority for "Operation Legend," the deployment of federal law enforcement to Portland and other cities. https://t.co/GKXfBjWxvP
The Trump administration used the destruction of Confederate monuments during BLM protests in June as pretext to federalize law enforcement in Portland, Albuquerque, Kansas City, and Chicago in July over the objections of state and local leaders. https://t.co/GKXfBjWxvP
BLM protesters who toppled Confederate monuments in June were met with a staggering federal response in July.

Right-wing extremists who colluded to capture Gretchen Whitmer were arrested in October. But the Michigan plot didn't trigger the same response. https://t.co/BlXYJq5IYr
Incredibly, in light of the attack on the Capitol, the White House *still* points the finger at the left. Today's order on the National Garden of American Heroes unironically says, "America has come under attack in recent months and years by a dangerous anti-American extremism."
This new White House order on statues is a master class in trolling. It cites the razing of the White House in 1812, the assassinations of Lincoln and MLK, and even 9/11. It presents the National Garden as a response to an attack of similar scale: toppled monuments.
Here's the full rundown of the Social Studies Hall of Fame: https://t.co/5P7n8G5zkJ
Hannah Arendt is on the list, which is hilarious, a sublime troll. https://t.co/EKNDJoWVPT
It goes without saying that the White House dictated the design for all 250 statues in the National Garden, a meek vision of authoritarian-realism. Kitsch over modernism: https://t.co/pSoQPopEop
On one hand, the National Garden of American Heroes smooths the edges of American history, offering Christopher Columbus and Andrew Jackson as the same class of beloved characters as Betsy Ross, Emily Dickinson, and Alex Trebek. (With affirmative action for Rehnquist and Scalia).
The more important reading of the National Garden of American Heroes — consistent over White House actions since June 2020 — is the evocation of Black Lives Matter protests as a national tragedy, on par with 9/11 or the assassinations of Lincoln and MLK. https://t.co/2zwBCQ8KRT
Lot of names to hate-read on Trump's 250 Americans list but the standouts to me are Rehnquist and Scalia. Other Supreme Court Justices who don't make the cut: Story, Holmes, Brennan, Hughes, O'Connor. Obviously Warren is out but Scalia beat freaking John Marshall!
FIRST LOOK at National Garden of American Heroes. Collect them all!!

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Violence had been building for years prior to the Nazis assuming power, and much of it was instigated by the SA.

In 1932 for example, 105 people died in clashes between SA and opposing groups in Prussia alone - that's one region.

SA activity - marching through 'red' neighbourhoods and fighting those who opposed them was a deliberate strategy. The spectacle of violence and the implied 'restoral of order' was the point.


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This is shameful legislation, that does nothing to tackle the problems with UK elections.THREAD


There is no evidence in-person voter fraud is a problem, and it wd be near-impossible to organise on an effective scale. Campaign finance violations, digital disinformation & manipulation of postal voting are bigger issues, but these are crimes of the powerful, not the powerless.

In a democracy, anything that makes it harder to vote - in particular, anything that disadvantages one group of voters - should face an extremely high bar. Compulsory voter ID takes a hammer to 3 million legitimate voters (disproportionately poor & BAME) to crack an imaginary nut

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