The last several days have been gut-wrenching. Seeing an innocent family man murdered by Minneapolis police (and by one he knew personally, apparently), followed by days of protests, riots, and more police brutality is horrific. There is so much that I could write about, the most egregious being tRump's attack on peaceful protesters so he could have a photo op with a bible he doesn't read in front of a church he doesn't attend after removing the actual clergy who were there providing aid and comfort to the peaceful protesters.

What makes that even worse is that apparently it was AJ Barr who ordered the "hit" on the protesters. This would be akin to the DA in your city ordering the police and National Guard to do... well... anything. How is this legal?

To add to that, there are apparently "security" personnel deployed with no indication as to what organization they belong to. There is some speculation that they are hired Blackwater goons:
(yes, it's "PalmerReport" - caveat emptor)

If this is true, then this is yet another red flag signaling a descent into fascism. The DOJ has no authority to deploy any kind of military-esque troops into the streets of DC.

All of this is a harsh reminder of the need to remove tRump from office. If the Senate is unwilling, then it's up to the voters and the good people of the United States to maintain pressure to hold back a complete military takeover, and vote him out. There were primaries in several states yesterday, including DC, IA, IN, MD, MT, NM, PA, RI, and SD. Former veep Joe Biden is less than 100 delegates shy of the 1991 needed to secure the nomination.

Along with the presidential primaries, there were also primaries for US House, US Senate, and various state positions. There was at least one bit of good news out that: Rep. Steve King (R-IA) lost in the primary to state Sen. Randy Feenstra. Steve King has been one of the worst in the House, and has been there 18 years. Good riddance and buh-bye. Feenstra will likely be very conservative, but one would hope he won't be a bigger asshole than King was. This is an interesting indicator that mainstream conservative voters are sick of the racist wing of their party.

In other election news, tRump is looking for a change of venue for the 2020 Republican convention. He has been threatening to move it, since NC is requiring social distancing rules. Now it looks like he's following through on that threat (although we'll see if that actually happens - he's not very good at following through on anything). I am reminded of "The Masque of the Red Death", and hopefully with the same result.

It's 5 months to election day. A lot can happen between now and then (and will), so let's be sure to keep our eye on the prize. We've suffered through 3 1/2 years of this aberration. We can hold on for a few more months to deliver the monster back from whence it came.