A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
A Quick Refresher On How We Got Here
In the aftermath of the Minnesota assassination spree, Garrett Graff crisply traces the arc of violent right-wing extremism from the 1980s to the present day. For those of us who have covered it and lived it, it’s drearily familiar. But I was struck anew by how what seemed like a winning fight for so long went sideways so quickly.
Across most of that time, the fight against right-wing extremism seemed like a manageable, containable, and winnable problem. It often felt like stamping out a final rear-guard action by the retreating forces of intolerance and racism. In fact, in retrospect, the war was far from over.
The “good people on both sides” in Charlottesville marked the beginning of a new era of state-sanctioned violent extremism that historically had been seen only in the South. From there through “Stand back and stand by” and up until the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, you might have been able to argue that it wasn’t state-sanctioned so much as it was merely endorsed by the head of state, a thin reed of a difference, but a plausible distinction.
After Jan. 6, the state was still functioning on a rule of law basis. But as we noted then, Jan. 6 was the beginning of a new battle, not a culmination. While clear and deeply worrying cracks like the Supreme Court’s corrupt immunity decision were emerging, there was still a chance to avoid going over the cliff’s edge into lawlessness. Trump’s re-election foreclosed that last chance. It cleared the way for him to the empower the apparatus of the state with his brand of right-wing authoritarianism.
But it was the Jan. 6 pardons specifically that brought it all full circle. As Graff notes, “The January 6th pardons — and a host of other abuses of the presidential pardons — have made clear a chilling message to Trump’s most extreme supporters: Violence in support of the regime will be not only tolerated but excused.”
Combined with the Trump White House’s takeover of the Justice Department, the Jan. 6 pardons and the retaliation against investigators and prosecutors marked the end of a functioning rule-of-law-based state apparatus. In its place is violence and retribution. The law is used as a shield for his supporters and a sword to his foes. That’s where we are now and the way out of this wilderness remains alarmingly unclear.
Alex Jones Allegedly Hiding Assets
The U.S. bankruptcy trustee has filed multiple lawsuits to recover assets that Alex Jones allegedly transferred fraudulently to avoid paying the $1.3 billion he owes Sandy Hook families.
A Dark Day At The Supreme Court
It was a convoluted series of opinions, but it boiled down to a 6-3 majority, along conservative-liberal lines, to sanction government discrimination against transgender youth and their families.
“It was a stark decision from Roberts using circular reasoning that will serve to empower those seeking to discriminate against transgender people — although the decision does leave some narrow routes open to challenging certain anti-trans laws and policies going forward,” Chris Geidner writes in an exhaustive unpacking of the multiple opinions by the justices.
The Cruelty Remains The Point
On the same day at the Supreme Court ruled against gender-affirming care for transgender youth, the Trump administration said it was ending specialized support for LGBTQ callers to the national suicide prevention hotline.
A New System Of Political Censorship
As it restarts the system for issuing student visas, the Trump administration is imposing a new system of censorship on international students. Among the new requirements, according to cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio:
- Visa applicants must have all social media profiles set to “public” so that U.S. consular officials can review their “online presence.”
- Failure to set social media accounts to “public” will be seen by the State Department as an effort to evade or hide certain activity.
- Consular officials are required to “identify applicants who bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles; who advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security; or who perpetrate unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.”
The new requirements take effect in five business days.
Sign Of The Times: Juneteenth Edition
WSJ:
Plano, Ill., made national news in 2021 when it designated Juneteenth a holiday before the state or federal government. But this year, Plano’s fifth annual celebration is canceled.
Organizer Jamal Williams said he called off the event after local business sponsors in the 13,000-person town declined to commit, saying they feared losing customers. A downsized version is being planned at a church in the town next door.
Quote Of The Day
“I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”–Donald Trump, on potential U.S. military strike on Iran, which he has reportedly approved plans for but hasn’t given the final order to launch
No Silver Linings
A brutal new assessment out today on how quickly we are speeding toward irreversible catastrophic climate change:
A Eulogy To The Student Essay
Brian Klaas: “The death of the student essay is not merely an academic concern. It is not just a problem for young people hoping to get good grades, nor is it only relegated to the realm of my fellow elbow-patched nerds. Instead, the rapidly improving ability to impressively mimic human language poses an existential threat to traditional methods of crafting smarter minds—which thereby challenges the future of human cognition.”
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