US Democracy is Up for Grabs

The June 22 Loudoun County School Board meeting being disrupted by a fascist flashmob over Critical Race Theory in Ashburn, Virginia. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein for Reuters)

Voter suppression plus orchestrated panic over critical race theory equals white supremacy. I don’t capitalize “white.” It’s a demographic but not an identity. Unlike most Black folks, we can tell a good deal about the ethnic identities of most white folks by their family names. Black folks have simply been denied such privileges and we will never learn about that from the fairy tales that rageaholic parents at school board meetings prefer their children be “taught,” for lack of a better word (say, perhaps, “indoctrinated”).

While House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reveals with his silence that Rep. Paul Gosar throwing a fundraiser with white supremacist Nick Fuentes is all good, he’s got nothing but threats for his caucus against its members’ participation in the January 6 select committee: “If any Republican accepts an appointment from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the Jan. 6 select committee, they better be ready to get all their committee assignments from her,” the Punchbowl newsletter reported. “Republicans, McCarthy said, get their committee assignments from Republicans — not from Democrats. Or else.” McCarthy has since come around to submit his recommendations for the select committee while he has yet to address the now flagrant fascism coursing through his caucus.

Meanwhile, a majority of unelected, mostly Republican-appointed justices with lifetime appointments…