In a crisis, it’s essential to call in reinforcements. In this case, it’s my old friend Parenthetical. He’s from Virginia and wrote a great piece for us in anticipation of the 2017 Charlottesville white riot, Lost Cause Fest, Virginia Style.

I’ve told him he can write as much or as little for First Draft as he wants. That’s my deal with Ryne Hancock and if it’s good enough for Ryne, it’s good enough for Parenthetical.

That’s all from me. Let’s get to the good stuff.

-Adrastos

If you find yourself fomenting an unlawful government overthrow or takeover every century or two, don’t be too hard on yourself. People get riled up. It’s natural. Watering the tree of freedom and whatnot.

However, if you find yourself responsible for two such incidents in a mere 49 months – and in what amounts to two consecutive months of Trump presidency — then you might want to seek help.

This is where the American right wing has landed in history.

They’ve gone coup-coup.

Not that there aren’t differences between the two. Footage of the first one generated some bad PR (but little else, as it turns out, in the way of repercussions). So, this time around, they’ve flipped the formula: Bench the Very Good People trying to break in, and hall-pass the Muscovites to shut everyone else out. It’s less horrific on the surface and a bit like an old church lock-in, except with snacks and data mismanagement for morally adrift young codemasters.

Other people and publications are covering the details of this rolling rogue ripoff, but don’t let the alliteration fool you. This is the big deal right now. For all of us who knew better, when we see it twice in four years, there’s no denying that our silent right-wing friends will turn a blind eye to most any assault on the fundamentals of the U.S. government in the name of right-wing values.

That’s a hard truth to absorb. The Revenge of the Low-Empathy Reagan Kids is upon us. They are here to reclaim their grandparents’ lost privilege, pay less taxes, and get anyone who might make them feel uncomfortable out of their line of sight. I saw a large THIS TOO SHALL PASS graphic last night, and that much is true, but I’m worried about the mark it’s going to leave.

UNRAVELING ABROAD

The virtual dismantling of the USAID office and the related false-choice MAGA-type rhetoric in our newsfeeds reminded me of the power of disinformation in getting us to this point. A friend of a friend recently cited some survey about how the bulk of Americans think we are spending too much on foreign aid.

The hitch is, roughly 10 out of 10 U.S. adults have a radically overinflated perception of U.S. foreign aid levels. Back in 2010, this survey’s respondents figured foreign aid was about 25% of our budget. The actual level was 1%. Which renders any “too much”/”too little” opinion pretty much meaningless here in the reality-based community.

While that research was 15 years ago, the trend had already been moving that way for a decade (the previous survey’s average guess was 20%). I think most would agree not a lot has changed in the media landscape and that the average American has not gotten any more adept at critical thinking.

But hey, everyone take a breath about Trump’s latest idea to shove off the remaining Gaza residents to make room for new U.S.-sponsored development there. Sometimes you can be the last person to realize it, but a change of scenery can be exactly the right thing to start over fresh, you know? Look at how well it turned out for the Native Americans.

Related, a relative texted me last night, outraged at El Salvador’s offer to take in and incarcerate current U.S. prisoners (for a fee). The White House is reportedly considering it, but let’s be real. That idea is dead in the water as soon as the president realizes he’d rather ship these inmates off to use as free labor to build the Trump Gaza.

The last word goes to The Refreshments: