Day: June 4, 2020
Stevenson’s army, June 4
Perhaps Secretary Esper and Chairman Milley have been shamed into restraint — by the avalanche of criticism from Gen Mattis, Dean Cohen, George Will, and others. What we do know is that the president shouted angrily at Esper in a Wednesday meeting and ordered him not to send 82d airborne troops back to NC, as Esper had earlier ordered. Esper reversed his decision. I don’t see how Esper can remain in office; I expect he’ll resign or be fired.
What we also know is that military operations in DC have actually been run by Attorney General Barr since the weekend. He ordered the clearing of Lafayette Square. He is in charge of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Bureau of Prisons police which were deployed at the Square.[Attorneys General like to be addressed as “General,” though their title is actually the noun rather than the following adjective. And DC has over 30 police forces with varying jurisdictions and chains of command — DC Metro police, Park Police, Capitol police, Secret Service, US Marshals, Diplomatic Security, etc. It is unclear precisely which forces have been sent where in DC in recent days.]
Interesting development: yesterday, NYT posted an opinion piece by Senator Cotton urging “send in the troops.”That provocative article does not appear in the print edition, perhaps because of blowback from Times staffers and others.
Why have Republicans been so silent? Anne Applebaum discusses pressures for complicity and collaboration from Eastern Europe in The Atlantic. [BTW, an excellent series dramatizing moral dilemmas and compromises is “A French Village,” set in a rural French village during WWII and available through Amazon Prime.]
On this 31st anniversary of the Chinese attacks on protesters in Tiananmen Square, NYT sees this as opportune moment for China to crack down on Hong Kong.
FYI, there’s already some encryption on Senate phones.
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