From the resistance front in the Trump era:
* MERRY PRANKSTERS: Activists printed up little Russian flags emblazoned with the word “Trump” and passed them out to attendees at the Conservative PAC meeting in Washington. They waved them joyously, not recognizing the Russian theme, until CPAC people tumbled to the punking and hurriedly confiscated them. They booted the pranksters. But this was not before many, many photos were made of the Trump fans waving Russian flags. They are all over the web.
* GOOD ADVICE FOR U.S. REP. FRENCH HILL AND SEN. JOHN BOOZMAN AND OTHER GOP SCAREDYCATS: Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Israel has an op-ed today in the New York Times about his rough handling by Tea Party protesters back in 2009. Republicans aren’t happy about similar treatment recently, blaming “liberal activists.”
Israel recounts rowdy, booing crowds who hurled insults, among others, at the League of Women Voters and an Israel staffer who was an Iraq war veteran. Still, Israel’s closing advice is worth noting by Congressmen-in-hiding such as French Hill and John Boozman:
The night of my town hall, I knew the crowd was effectively stage-managed and that many people there didn’t live in my district. But I didn’t make an issue of that, as President Trump does now. It was my obligation — my job — to listen to disagreement. The people there were Americans expressing their anger and anxiety; exercising a constitutional principle to petition their grievances to government. It wasn’t a pleasant night, but it was a patriotic one.
So my advice to those members of Congress who are hiding out or delaying is this: You can run for re-election, but you can’t hide from the American people.
The longer you wait, the louder it will get.
* FAKE NEWS: It’s been important to Republicans including U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton to make Sweden out to be a hellhole because it has been receptive to immigrants. The Swedish crime statistics don’t reflect it and Swedish officials, with rare exceptions, say things have gone relatively smoothly, if not completely uneventfully. But the journalists in Sweden are on the job, too, including with this fine takedown of a Fox News expert on Swedish matters. Speaking of Fake News:
Fox News continues to focus on the debate about how immigration is breaking Sweden. One guest last night, described as a ”Swedish defense and national security advisor”, spoke about the problems caused by criminality in Swedish cities and suburbs. But neither the Swedish Defense Ministry nor Foreign Office have heard of the expert. Nils Bildt, who called for an “open and honest” debate on crime, has previously been convicted of a violent offence in the United States.
The fellow emigrated to the U.S. in 1994, the report says. Maybe we ought to put Sweden on the watch list.