In one of the most alarming steps yet taken by the Trump administration, the president is threatening to withhold federal funding from any city that didn't welcome Trump's mercenary army of storm-troopers during protests this past year.
On Monday, Attorney General William Barr announced that New York City, Portland, and Seattle are under the gimlet eye of the Justice Department, as per instructions given in a memo from The Donald dated 9/2/2020. That memo is entitled "Memorandum on Reviewing Funding to State and Local Government Recipients That Are Permitting Anarchy, Violence, and Destruction in American Cities."
Trump's memo detailed the activity that the president disliked in the three cities that Barr has cited. (Washington, DC was mentioned in the memo, too, but not in Barr's announcement.)
The memo doesn't threaten to withhold funds; it threatens to "review" them. Thus, Barr's announcement is the warning shot in a battle that looks at least as badly planned as the Bay of Pigs. Lawyers can attack this ridiculous ploy in more ways than we can count. It's a gift to late-night comics.
Problem is, it's also terrifying. If Trump hadn't used a shock-and-awe offense before, we'd be even more scared. However, Barr's step could well have to do with helping Trump split the public's attention away from the travesty that Senate Republicans hope to accomplish in confirming a new Supreme Court Justice before decency (not to mention their own supposed convictions) allows.
We can take it with a smirk -- hopefully.
At bottom, this shows why Donald Trump must not be reelected. This step is truly fascist.
What's your thinking on the implications of this announcement? Should we take Barr's step seriously? What is the likelihood that the federal government would go through with the threat of cutting federal funds to obstreperous districts? Should we subject Trump to ridicule over the whole idea?
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/517365-doj-designates-new-york-portland-and-seattle-as-permitting-anarchy?fbclid=IwAR3tusfTLTp4WofH1CtJBsewW95Lemq4erHvmnnvzpt_8iiXPM-tgGvfAoE
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