A Remarkable Week in Review
Let’s start with some reminders that ideas and words have consequences.
Amidst all the various threats, unknowns, sturm und drang of our age, is it possible that this ends not with a bang, but with a pandemic?
As RFK Jr. continues to dismantle vaccine protocols, a measles epidemic is only one possibility. Can polio, and sundry plagues be far behind? Via AP: “Hundreds are quarantined in South Carolina as measles spreads in 2 US outbreaks.”
Measles outbreaks are growing along the Utah-Arizona border and in South Carolina, where hundreds are in quarantine.
Between Friday and Tuesday, South Carolina health officials confirmed 27 new measles cases in an outbreak in and around northwestern Spartanburg County. In two months, 111 people have been sickened by the vaccine-preventable virus.
Then there is this: “Trump attacks on political opponents spur a surge of threats, NBC News review finds.”
President Donald Trump’s heated rhetoric against his perceived political enemies has resulted in a blizzard of threats against at least 22 officials on both sides of the aisle in recent weeks, according to an NBC News tally.
Among those who’ve been targeted with threats after being mentioned in social media posts by the president are numerous Democrats, including Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan — but even more Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and over a dozen Indiana state lawmakers.
Once again, we are reminded that antisemitism kills. Jews targeted, murdered in Australia. “Bondi Beach shooting: 12 people confirmed dead and several injured in terrorist attack on Jewish community event”- ABC News
Finally, this bizarre story Via Olivia Troye: “The Lie Is the Point, And Being the Target Is the Warning.”
Let me be blunt: this story is a lie. It never happened.
A conspiracy site published a grotesque fantasy claiming my friend Stephanie Grisham was arrested for “treason,” taken to a secret military base, and tried to kill herself. It’s fake, and the graphic, cinematic detail is intentional. It’s written to feel real.
I worked with Stephanie in Trump 1.0. She took a public stand against a president who punishes truth-tellers. That courage is exactly why she’s being targeted now.
Stephanie Grisham addressed the lie directly, calmly, factually, and publicly. She shouldn’t have had to. But that’s part of the damage: the burden shifts to the target to deny a fictional crime, to reassure strangers, to correct a reality that never existed.
Here’s what people need to understand: these lies don’t stay online. When an administration openly retaliates against critics, attacks judges, and guts whistleblower protections, the line between fantasy and consequence collapses. Some readers don’t see this as fiction. They see it as permission. That’s how threats escalate.
Happy Sunday. Congratulations on making it through yet another lamentable week of Trumpian bluster, disinformation, cruelty, cosplay, and clown-with-flamethrower absurdity.
A week of commentary, snark, and warnings
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
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Sunday dogs
Dreaming of long summer days.
Charlie gets this my highest compliment for his good, hard, vital reporting. … “He does DOG’s work!”
Great shot of the boys on the dock at sunset.
There are risks with everything in life and vaccines are just one of many. As much as science does to reduce those risks, when you end up in that one in a million category, it is tough to take and you start asking why me?
The measles epidemic will only get worse as more and more people refuse to be vaccinated. The only thing that will stop it will be the unfortunate preventable deaths of children and other unvaccinated people. Then the survivors will realize that their loss is on them and no one else and that is the really brutal piece in all of this.
Trump revels in the ability to threaten with mob violence. It's his superpower. I hope those in his current administration realize that fact because they are next if they cross him.