dpduckworth

Photograph by Lisa DeCrais

On June 15th the Trump campaign announced that over 1 million tickets were sold for a rally in an arena seating 19,200.  Fortunately, they will get 22,000 inside the arena and make room for everyone else outside the arena.  Tulsa Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart “wishes” that the rally would be pushed back because of the surge in cases of COVID-19 locally.  No way, Bruce.  This is exactly the right time.  Couldn’t be better.

I grew up watching bikers on television.  Motorcycles were popular where I grew up in Southern California.  And then Altamont happened and I realized the romantic notion of freedom on a bike on the highways was all a sham.

The lore about the motorcycle and freedom must be vast.  I found a snippet of that lore:

“Fear despair, spoken by other legends
The apocalyptic hell riders
Screaming the song of evil
Flying against the lands
Under a full moon spells
Making to ring the bells
The bells of judgment day
They are the riders of…”

Proprietary space in San Francisco.

Riders From Hell [Special Hells Angel Version] from Hell & Heaven by GOD The Barbarian Horde. This “slightly different version of the song Riders Of Hell & Heaven” includes the sound effects of Harley Davidson motors according to the Digital Track Download Streaming page found at: https://godthehorde.bandcamp.com/track/riders-from-hell-special-hells-angels-version
Music: Eugen ‘Gelu’ Lăpușneanu & Constantin ‘Costel Castor’ Lăpușneanu. Lyrics: Constantin ‘Costel Castor’ Lăpușneanu.

I now think of Trump’s upcoming rally and subsequent events as blood sport on two levels.  The June 20th event is scheduled to take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a site specifically chosen by the Trump campaign for its racial past.  One of the most horrific racial attacks by white vigilantes against African Americans occurred in the city’s black district of Greenwood on May 31 and June 1, 1921.  The rampaging massacre of black citizens by white citizens and the burning of most of the Greenwood district stands out as particularly relevant to today’s unrest across the nation.  Trump’s response to protest, as we saw on June 1st at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., where peaceful protestors were attacked by Park Police and other forces, under the direction of Attorney General William Barr, using chemical gas, rubber pellets or bullets and flash-bang shells, along with healthy doses of baton wielding and pushing, was to “dominate,” as he proclaimed at a podium minutes before.  The day before this intentional attack by law enforcement against peaceful protest Trump tweeted an exhortation to use the National Guard against all protest.  There is a long echo of the tragic events in Greenwood where units of the Oklahoma National Guard were called in to arrest all African Americans.  The burning of Greenwood property was assisted by agents of the government.

Trump continues to pump violent rhetoric into a national situation where earnest protest addresses an already violent policing system, the protest spurred by the murder of African American George Floyd by white police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25th.  And this will be Trump’s law-and-order platform until the November election.  Unless he can conjur a miracle drug to combat COVID-19 that does not involve bleaching the lungs, law and order is the only card he can use to promote his re-election as he has failed at everything else.

But there are other ways and other victims from which Trump expects to draw blood.  The people who attend the Tulsa rally will agree to a waiver from harm in order to purchase a ticket to the event.  It reads as follows:

“By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury.”

Never mind that daily increases in COVID-19 infections have reached a higher level in recent days for Oklahoma and Tulsa county.  Oklahoma Senator James Lankford dismisses the potential danger of this indoor event causing new infections because those insignificant new infections will be a “little bit of a bump.” (see Amanda Holpuch article cited below)  Trump, who eschews masks, will lead by example.  I will be curious to learn if any event participant practices social distancing or mask wearing.  With that in mind, Trump anoints his followers in blood (there is a recent line of medical inquiry into COVID-19 being a blood vessel disease; see citation below).  This rally and all subsequent campaign events are intended to signal that the country has returned to normal.  Thus, his attendees sacrifice themselves to his campaign so that he can claim that he has beaten the virus through the work of his administration.

Associated Press. “Trump seeks rapid return to normal, including Tulsa rally – whose attendees must sign a health release,” MarketWatch, June 12, 2020; https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-seeks-rapid-return-to-normal-including-tulsa-rally-whose-attendees-must-sign-a-health-release-2020-06-12

Amanda Holpuch, “Republicans insist Trump Tulsa rally won’t spread coronavirus – despite local concern: Attendees at Saturday campaign rally will have to sign waiver; Tulsa health director expresses concern over indoor event,” The Guardian, June 14, 2020; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/14/republicans-trump-tulsa-rally-coronavirus-lankford-kudlow

Carol D. Leonnig. “Park Police spokesman acknowledges chemical agents used on Lafayette Square protestors are similar to tear gas,” The Washington Post, June 5, 2020; https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/park-police-spokesman-acknowledges-chemical-agents-used-on-lafayette-square-protesters-are-similar-to-tear-gas/2020/06/05/971a8d78-a75a-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html

Make America Great Again! Rally – Tulsa, OK, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; https://events.donaldjtrump.com/events/tulsa-oklahoma-rally-june-20?utm_content=main_menu&utm_medium=web&utm_source=djt_web

Amanda Marcotte. “Trump thinks white-supremacist trolling is his path to re-election,” AlterNet, June 12, 2020; https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/trump-thinks-white-supremacist-trolling-is-his-path-to-re-election/

1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Tulsa Historical Society and Museum; https://www.tulsahistory.org/exhibit/1921-tulsa-race-massacre/

Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Rebecca Tan. “Inside the push to tear-gas protestors ahead of a Trump photo op,” The Washington Post, June 1, 2020; https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-push-to-tear-gas-protesters-ahead-of-a-trump-photo-op/2020/06/01/4b0f7b50-a46c-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html

Dana G. Smith. “Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything: Many of the infection’s bizarre symptoms have one thing in common,” Medium, May 28, 2020; https://elemental.medium.com/coronavirus-may-be-a-blood-vessel-disease-which-explains-everything-2c4032481ab2

Andrew Solender, “Trump Campaign Tells Tulsa Rally Attendees They ‘Assume All Risks’ Of  Coronavirus Exposure,” Forbes, June 11, 2020; https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/06/11/trump-campaign-tells-tulsa-rally-attendees-they-assume-all-risks-of-coronavirus-exposure/#3d15ace85295

Li Zhou, ” ‘The protesters had to deescalate the police’: Demonstrators are the ones defusing violence at protests. Protesters describe the excessive force they’ve seen police use in cities across the country.” Vox, June 12, 2020; https://www.vox.com/2020/6/12/21279619/protesters-police-violence-philadelphia-los-angeles-washington-dc

As I was throwing away a used pastry box I thought about the absolute waste involved.  What hit me then was to take this waste and make something of it!  Thus, The Bunker Mystery.

As we know, one Donald Trump did visit a bunker on Friday, May 29th in the underground depths of the White House.  His wife, Melania, and son, Barron, accompanied him, along with an assortment of Secret Service guards.  Why go to a bunker, a space reserved for shelter from the outside world?  Surely protestors gathering outside the White House calling for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd, a black man, by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer in Minneapolis, while handcuffed and laying under the knee of said officer for nine minutes, on May 25th, would not have caused alarm for the pr*sident’s safety?  On Wednesday, June 3rd, Trump said during a Fox News Radio interview that he was down there “much more for an inspection.”

Could the media have gotten it wrong?  What would explain Trump visiting a bunker?

One would logically think that Trump and family spied away to the bunker out of fear from the angry world outside their window.  Surely Trump would not pee on his throne?  These were the very same rooms Vice President Dick Cheney sought during the 9/11 attacks.  Certainly, though, the outside world was very much on Trump’s mind as he tweeted that those outside protestors would face “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.”

Trump said during that radio interview with Brian Kilmeade that he had already been there “two and a half times.”  I assume that the half-time visit must of been his first visit when he just peeked inside from the doorway, thus exposing half of his body to the bunker.  Elsewhere he has been quoted as saying, “I’ve gone down two or three times, all for an inspection,” getting a sense of space.  That deep aha! moment arrived.  Of course, Melania was with him that Friday.  And he has also claimed that he was there earlier in the day, not during a period of outside protests.  Well, then, he must have taken Melania and Barron there to elicit decorating ideas!

Is Melania the go-to for decorative decisions?  Apparently, yes, at least with son Barron.  According to elite daily Melania decorated Barron’s room in the White House.  White House Historical Association president Stewart McLaurin praised the First Lady for bringing very faded decor in other rooms to its very best.  But, how could this decorative panache be the point for making a very short visit to the Bunker?

Could there have been a better reason?  That was revealed on Monday, June 1st.  From the Rose Garden at the White House, Trump made a prophetic speech.  Citing nationwide protests as “drowned out” by “professional anarchists, violent mobs, or, arsonists, looters, criminals, rider rioters, Antifa and others,” Trump was clearly setting his sights.  He charged that he would deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers to “dominate the streets.”  We did not have to wait long to see that he was serious.  As he walked from the Rose Garden to the Episcopal St. John’s Church across from Lafayette Square, Attorney General William Barr had ordered riot police and others to sweep peaceful protestors out of the way, using teargas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray.  There it was!  He visited the bunker to find absolute quiet and calm in order to pen his response to civil disorder.  And that required utmost concentration.

Beaumont, Peter. “Trump fled to bunker as protests over George Floyd raged outside White House: The president has been widely criticised for his response to the demonstrations, preferring tweets to a national address,” Guardian Weekly, May 31, 2020; https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/31/trump-flees-to-bunker-as-protests-over-george-floyd-rage-outside-white-house

Ciccone, Nick. “How Melania Trump Decorated The White House Was Surprisingly Low-Key,” elite daily, May 28, 2018; https://www.elitedaily.com/p/how-melania-trump-decorated-the-white-house-was-surprisingly-low-key-9124631

Cillizza, Chris. “Donald Trump’s ‘bunker’ story tells you everything you need to know about him,” CNN, June 3, 2020; https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/donald-trump-bunker-secret-service-protests/index.html

Liptak, Kevin and Betsy Klein. “Trump claims he went to bunker for ‘inspection’ amid violent protests,” CNN, June 3, 2020; https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/donald-trump-bunker/index.html

“READ: President Trump’s Rose Garden speech on protests,”CNN, June 1, 2020; https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/politics/read-trumps-rose-garden-remarks/index.html

Superville, Darlene, Associated Press, “White House makeover: Melania Trump upgrades, refreshes and restores for state dinner,” USA Today, September 18, 2019; https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2019/09/18/melania-trump-white-house-decor-upgrades-first-lady-refreshes-rooms/2362783001/

I am a little late: According to a press conference with Kayleigh McEnany, Trump ordered the clearance of protestors and William Barr executed those orders even though he does not legally have the authority to charge the Secret Service to attack peaceful protestors. See, Hunter, “White House confirms Trump gave order resulting in assault on St. John’s Church, Daily Kos, June 3, 2020; https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/6/3/1950204/-White-House-confirms-Trump-gave-order-resulting-in-assault-on-St-John-s-Church?detail=emaildkbow2

We have watched much that I cherish attacked during the Trump administration.  Everything that represents life and nurture: protection of the environment, programs designed to sustain the neediest, expanded healthcare, refuge for the immigrant, racial justice, respect for our LGBTQA+ family.  If it wasn’t under attack from the White House, it was under attack by Republican control of the House and Senate, or the courts stacked by Mitch McConnell.

But Lafayette Square made clear the direction this administration intends to take.  The reactive stage, the wiping out of inclusion and dignity, has now entered the proactive stage, the elimination of voice and power.  I was playing with characters a few months ago thinking about members of Trump’s cabinet.  Stephen Miller epitomized the excesses of its dark agenda by creating the architecture for the dehumanization and torture of immigrants in concentration camps.

Stephen Miller

As long as these attacks were directed at specific targets, such as immigrants, we could only speculate about a web the administration might be creating, a web expanding beyond the few to include the many.  That arrived on Monday.

Attorney General William Barr ordered peaceful protesters dispersed so that Trump could walk to a nearby Episcopalian church for a photo-op.  White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany lied to the public today insisting that law enforcement was only defending itself from violent protestors.  I have watched videos, looked at photographs, and read first-hand accounts: this was an aggressive, brutal assault against peaceful demonstrators by law enforcement.  Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington was not apprised beforehand.  The Virginia suburb of Arlington County has withdrawn its forces from the White House and other federal sites because of this attack.

Barr, though, is setting the next stage.  Yesterday militarized individuals entered the scene without law enforcement insignia identifying their agency.  When questioned by journalist Dan Friedman a few individuals would only say that they were placed there by Department of Justice.  We will lose our power in Barr’s staging because those who attack us with batons, flash grenades, and chemical spray will not be accountable.

And our voice will disappear when the Republican Party’s plan is realized, already a work in progress: to rig our court system nationwide and muzzle the press.

Baker, Peter, Maggie Haberman, Katie Rogers, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Katie Benner. “How Trump’s Idea for a Photo Op Led to Havoc in a Park,” The New York Times, June 2, 2020; https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/us/politics/trump-walk-lafayette-square.html

Friedman, Dan. “Trump Has Flooded DC With Law Enforcement Officers Who Won’t Identify Themselves,” Mother Jones, June 3, 2020; https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/06/trump-has-flooded-dc-with-law-enforcement-officers-who-wont-identify-themselves/

Gittleson, Ben and Jordyn Phelps. “Trump denies ordering protestors forcibly removed for church photo op,” ABC News, June 3, 2020; https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-denies-ordering-protesters-forcibly-removed-church-photo/story?id=71042680

“In Pictures: Protestors teargassed for Trump photo-op,” Al Jazeera, June 2, 2020; https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/pictures-protesters-teargassed-trump-photo-op-200602072413665.html

They do not want you to vote: Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, Ronna McDaniel and Kayleigh McEnany.  They have all publicly spoken against expanded nationwide mail-in balloting.  Conway, in particular, wants you to embrace your enthusiasm for standing in line to vote, like those who stand in line for an hour waiting for a Washington, D.C.-served Georgetown Cupcake, and not be denied, even if the rest of us are concerned about COVID-19 this November.

Republican National Committee Chair McDaniel has gone further and sued the State of California for expanding mail-in balloting to all eligible voters in California, claiming voter fraud.  McEnany, the mouthpiece, is simply reiterating the orange blob’s attacks on mail-in voting.  Her master also rails against the post office, funny enough.  Hmmm.  Is there a connection there?

If we could believe there were a principled position here it would be hard to find.  McEnany has voted by mail 11 times in the past 10 years; McDaniel has voted absentee for years; Conway by mail for the 2018 midterm; the orange in the primary election in March, even though he was present in the county at least two days by which he could have voted in person.

No, they all are determined that you risk disease rather than safely vote by a method your state would choose to safeguard your health.

Date, S.V. and Roque Planas. “Kellyanne Conway Voted By Mail – But She Thinks You Should Have To Wait In Line,” Huffington Post, 05/28/2020; https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kellyanne-conway-mail-ballot_n_5ecfee3bc5b66dffc5d021b5

Derysh, Igor. “RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel repeatedly vote by mail – before suing California for expanding the practice,” Salon, 05/29/2020; https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/rnc-chair-ronna-mcdaniel-repeatedly-voted-by-mail-before-suing-california-for-expanding-the-practice/

Sollenberger, Roger. “Kayleigh McEnany voted by mail 11 times in 10 years, but claims mail-in ballots invite rampant fraud,” Salon, 05/29/2020; https://www.salon.com/2020/05/27/kayleigh-mcenany-voted-by-mail-11-times-in-10-years-but-claims-mail-in-ballots-invite-rampant-fraud/