For one thing, it’s short so they can spell it.

Nigel Farage and other VIPs were flown to and from Tulsa in jets chartered by the Trump campaign for a rally that wound up drawing less than 6,200 people.

WASHINGTON ― Donald Trump’s presidential reelection campaign chartered jets to fly in VIPs to attend his much-hyped but ultimately flopped Oklahoma rally on Saturday, including his pro-Brexit ally Nigel Farage, who was given a “national interest” waiver to enter the country despite the coronavirus travel ban.

Farage, who recently lost his radio show in Britain after comparing Black Lives Matter protesters to the Taliban, was flown from Palm Beach, Florida, to Tulsa for the evening rally, and then to New York City, according to an informal Trump adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“This was supposed to be a festival to celebrate Trump and Trumpism, and it laid an egg,” the adviser said, adding that more than 100 high-profile guests had been flown in and put up in hotels on the campaign’s dime. . . .

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-farage-private-jets_n_5ef12513c5b6b30610066938

by Sarah Kay LeBlanc, Des Moines Register

An employee at Wyckoff Comfort has been fired after a video on Twitter showed him attempting to drive a truck through protesters at the Hy-Vee on S.E. 14th Street Saturday. . . .

"His actions over the weekend were unacceptable and do not represent the values Wyckoff has built our business on," the company said in a statement on Twitter. "Wyckoff disapproves of his behavior and in no way condones his actions."

The company said in the statement that it "will do our best to educate our employees to make sure something like this doesn't happen again." . . .

Wyckoff, a 70 year old company, responded quickly to their employee's action. You can comment or Like them here: https://www.facebook.com/wyckoffcomfort/

Lunatic Mark Lamb, who couldn't meet trump because he tested positive for COVID-19, is whining. You can comment here: https://www.facebook.com/PinalCountySO/

by Paul Rosenberg on Salon

Donald Trump's upside-down Bible photo-op at St. John's Church has led to unprecedented blowback from retired military generals, culminating in a mea culpa from Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But the religious pushback was similarly sharp, starting with the Rev. Gini Gerbasi, an Episcopal priest who was among those "literally DRIVEN OFF of the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with tear gas and concussion grenades," as she described on Facebook — an extraordinary use of state power to crush religious liberty. A bevy of leaders from the Episcopal Church spoke out forcefully, soon joined by Catholics, Lutherans and others, including some evangelicals.
. . .
As noted in a forthcoming report from Political Research Associates, support for legal abortion is at a 25-year high
At the same time, the main voting bloc opposed to legal abortion — white evangelical Protestants — is shrinking as a share of the population, even as it holds steady as a share of the electorate
. . .
white evangelicals share of the national vote - 26%
white evangelical share of the US population - 15%
...
https://www.salon.com/2020/06/18/can-the-religious-left-save-abortion-rights-from-republican-hypocrisy/

Kayleigh McEnany, Mike Pence, and the narcissistic apocalypse of the new evangelicals
Kayleigh McEnany's obsession with Christian martyrdom heralds a shift in the White House's locus of religious death
by Roger Sollenberger on Salon

https://www.salon.com/2020/06/16/kayleigh-mcenany-mike-pence-and-the-narcissistic-apocalypse-of-the-new-evangelicals/

Last week our president tried to send the Army into America's streets. Aides pushed back, but it was a close call

During his three and a half years in office, President Trump has succeeded in damaging every institution of politics and government, from the Department of Justice to the federal courts to the Foreign Service and the State Department to the intelligence community, public health agencies and beyond. But until fairly recently he had more or less left the U.S. military alone.
. . .
And he never learns: He never becomes more measured or more "presidential," never stops blurting out whatever random, angry thought flashes across his brainpan. On Wednesday, Trump was right back at it, demanding that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan crack down on protesters who have "liberated" portions of that city. He tweeted, "Take back your city NOW. If you don't do it, I will. This is not a game."

Inslee responded by saying that "a man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state's business" and Durkan retorted, "Go back to your bunker." Perhaps the president's staff should try being that direct. No doubt they'd lose their jobs, but at least they'd still have some self-respect.

Here's the link: https://www.salon.com/2020/06/12/when-donald-trump-tried-to-stage-a-coup-was-june-1-the-turning-point/

"The Des Moines Register reported the group of nearly 1,000 marched for over three hours and took small breaks throughout, including a demonstration on Grand Avenue where the crowd laid on their stomachs for eight minutes and 46 seconds — the same amount of time it took for George Floyd to be asphyxiated by former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin.

When the crowd of protesters finally reached Cownie’s neighborhood at around 8:45 p.m., they were greeted with refreshments and support from the neighborhood’s residents.

The crowd spilled out of the streets and into neighboring yards as the mandatory Polk County curfew drew closer. They quickly began their demonstration as Matthew Bruce, a protest leader and member of Des Moines Black Lives Matter, read off a list of demands to Cownie and the fully-geared officers guarding his house, which had a sign reading, “I hear you. I see you. Black Lives Matter” in the front yard.

Cownie took notes as the demands were read:
Lift the mandatory curfew in place in Polk County from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Free those detained in Polk County Jail for peacefully protesting.
Support an anti-racial profiling ordinance in the city of Des Moines.
Restore the voting rights of felons.

Cownie agreed to contact Polk County officials to work to release those detained for peacefully protesting and to move forward with the anti-racial profiling ordinance in next Monday’s Des Moines City Council meeting.

“I will also tell you that I believe [the ordinance] will be passed,” Cownie said to the crowd.

Cownie said he would be meeting with Polk County officials to address the mandatory curfew and potentially have it lifted Thursday.

“The other direct thing we talked about was to reach out to the governor, this is to reinstate the voting rights of those that have served their time and been released,” Cownie said. “They have paid their price, they need to have their voting rights back, and I’ll support that.”

Cownie then asked the officers present to take several steps back from the crowd of protesters. They backed up about 10 feet.

“We’ve got some of the members of our Civil and Human Rights Commission right here,” Cownie said. “I want you to know I pledge to continue working very closely with them and to bring all these things that we’ve talked about to fruition.

“This is a dynamic process. It doesn’t end here tonight, we’re going to keep moving on. Thank you, and Black Lives Matter.”

at 3:45 pm today at the request of the NAACP.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/us/politics/trump-governors.html

The audio of the call was posted earlier here:https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213521473