Trump Floats The Insurrection Act

And continues to lie

Left Paris this morning, still on my flight. I am listening to a book called 1861 by Jay Winik, and it’s fascinating. We think things are chaotic now, but they were equally chaotic then. Over the past year, I have been immersing myself in history books about Reconstruction — I am finding many similarities to now. If you like reading history, I recommend the book 1861, and any by Heather Cox Richardson, as Reconstruction is her specialty. It helps with context as to what is going on now. As usual, I give you some US news that I saw today that I think is worth being aware of. There’s so much, and obviously I don’t get it all, but it’s something.

Below is a good explanatory video from the NY Times of what Trump is doing with the National Guard, choosing where a crisis is and sending in troops. Historically unprecidented. Watch journalist Helene Cooper’s explanation here.

The military is to protect all Americans, not as a tool to go after those who disagree with Trump. President Johnson deployed the National Guard to protect civil rights protestors during a time of real civil unrest in the 1960’s, and of course there are other examples…