Happy Turkey Day, everybody.
It's All Dark Meat In the Dark: Thousands in Kitsap County still without power after powerful windstorm earlier this week.
Russia v. Turkey: Russia threatens economic sanctions against Turkey in the wake of the downing of a Russia warplane that was in Turkish airspace for 17 seconds and was, according to the US, back over Syrian territory when Turkey shot it down. Russia accuses Turkey of siding with ISIS, says their plane was shot down without warning, advises Turkish president not to "try it again." Turkey says they did so issue a warning. Fun fact: Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party," says Wiki. If Russia attacks Turkey then all NATO member states—the US included—are obliged to "come to the aid" of Turkey. World War Three!
France v. Terror: "The attacks by militants tied to the Islamic State less than two weeks ago in Paris have awakened a patriotic fervor in France not seen in decades," says the New York Times. "Those seeking to enlist in the French Army have quintupled to around 1,500 a day. Local and national police offices are flooded with applications.... The surge in France, which no longer has conscription, mirrors what happened in the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks."
Trump v. Democracy: Writers, pundits, and observers across the political spectrum agree: Donald Trump is a fascist. "Alone and disconnected, [Trump's] rhetoric isn’t necessarily fascist," writes Jamelle Bouie at Slate. "Some of it, in fact, is even anodyne. But together and in the person of Donald Trump, it’s clear: The rhetoric of fascism is here. And increasingly, the policies are too. The only thing left is the violence."
If the Jackboot Fits: We can tick the box next to "violence" now.
"[Mercutio Southall Jr., a] single father of three, who was raised in the civil rights cradle of Selma, Alabama, told ThinkProgress that he decided to go to Trump’s event with two friends in order to speak out against the frontrunner candidate’s “racist” rhetoric.... What happened next was captured on video by a CNN reporter: a crowd of Trump supporters converging on Southall, punching, kicking, and choking him while chanting, 'All lives matter.'"
Southall isn't the first person to be beaten at a Trump rally.
"For all of those writing articles announcing that Donald Trump has now officially become or embraced 'fascism,'" Josh Marshall writes at Talking Points Memo, "I regret to inform you that there's really no clear definition of fascism, much as the harder left and right has imagined otherwise for decades. In any case, labels hardly seem relevant. What is relevant is that roughly a third of the voters Republicans will need to win the presidency next year now support Trump—this version of Trump, a candidate running a campaign which is increasingly open in its racism and militant in its nonsense."
Mental Health Break: War, terror, Trump—so much depressing news on Thanksgiving. But we can all be thankful for ballet butt.
The Invaluable Frank Rich: "The GOP—not just Trump and Carson—offers something to offend almost every minority group in the country: black, gay, Latino, and Muslim people. And one majority group: women. Even its so-called moderate Establishment candidates are culpable: Jeb Bush called for admitting only Christian refugees from Syria; John Kasich has proposed a government agency to promote “core Judeo-Christian Western values,” a plan that strikes me as not just anti-Muslim but anti-Semitic despite the lip service paid to “Judeos”; Marco Rubio opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest. None of this will hurt Republican candidates in safe, gerrymandered House districts or in deep-red states. But it will cripple them in presidential elections, and contested races for the Senate and governorships in purple or even purplish states, let alone blue ones." You should be reading Rich at New York Magazine.
Maybe Get Rid of Bad Cops Before They Shoot Teenagers? "The white Chicago police officer charged with first-degree murder in the killing of a black teenager in 2014 was named in at least 20 citizen complaints between 2008 and 2013," says USA Today, "including allegations of misconduct in the use of force."
Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremonies Matter Less than Black Lives, the Freedom of Speech, the Right of the People to Peaceably Assemble: Obnoxious, snot-nosed, GIF-pimping bloggers patiently explain First Amendment to idiotic local teeveenews reporter.
Local Republican Asshole an Even Bigger Asshole Than Previously Believed: Go fuck yourself, Jay Rodne.
We Can All Be Thankful These Alleged White Supremacist Asshole Are In Jail: Four white men are under arrest for shooting into a crowd of protesters at a Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis.