All posts by Chuck Fager

Say What You Will, Bernie’s Still My Guy

— He’s still in the Senate, with much higher visibility;

— He campaigned fair, and most of his main rivals self-destructed;

— His integrity is intact: (Tax returns? Naddadamthing; he & Jane are comfy, but not millionaires. He kept his word: & supported HRC after the primaries; he works nonstop.)

— His message of fighting oligarchy to save democracy is not only consistent, but it’s also reinforced daily by every billionaire appointment & crazy tweet from On High . . .

HB2 Fallout: $42K Taxpayers Money Produces $Millions in Bad PR

Several times, NC senators who supported HB2 repeal noted that the one-day special legislative session cost the state’s taxpayers $42,000, money spent to achieve nothing.

Well, the senators were not fully correct abut that last part. Yes, the session produced nothing in legislative terms.

But as an investment in public relations for the state, it was a bonanza, a real goldmine. We’re talking negative PR, but hey: this is the year when such notions have been upended, right?

The Wall Street Journal, another business bible that is hardly a liberal rag, was right there too. I looked up its ad rates: for a half page, it would be $157000, not counting the color.

The Great Carolina HB2 Bathroom Bill “Repeal” Ripoff

As the actual import of Berger’s bill sank in, the optimistic aura generated by the blizzard of media buildup dissipated like the frost on my car window as that morning’s sun came up.

The small band of Democratic senators, mostly black, blew the whistle: this was not “repeal” at all, they pointed out. It merely changed the form of the ban, then extended it for six months, and came with an additional warning that localities must still abide by the ban afterward or risk its revival.

Senator Jeff Jackson of Charlotte put it bluntly and angrily: “This breaks the deal!” he shouted.

Standing Rock, TigerSwan & the Dawn of Officially Occupied America

Now, one more point: not only is TigerSwan equipped technically to surveil the Standing Rock protectors from many directions at once, and able to “dispatch” enforcers on short notice. They are also invested with the ethos of the Special Forces from which they sprang, that they are the “good guys,” preparing to “liberate the oppressed.”

And who, in their calculus, are the “oppressed”? Who else but the ones paying them. And the “oppressors”? Of course, at standing Rock it was the interlopers in the tents who called themselves “protectors.”

Thus, while the North Dakota landscape may not have much in the way of evergreen forests, still from the TigerSwan perspective, it is “Pineland” all over again.

Moreover, not so far behind the DAPL and this point of confrontation, there is a whole new administration about to arrive, which regards virtually all such protests as oppressive, and overdue for their turn to be overthrown.

Catching Up With The Saga of TigerSwan, Standing Rock & My Blog

One of the points of the blog post, which I hope will not be lost in the euphoria after the Standing Rock victory, is that TigerSwan exemplifies a state-of-the-art approach to technological control and suppression of organized dissent which has been taking form and growing under the radar over the past fifteen years. (Some details are in the disappeared post.)

It is one I believe we will see more of. And one which will get, I strongly expect, much more support from the new occupant of the White House than the current one.