As American feminists came together in 2017 to protest Donald Trump, Russia’s disinformation machine set about deepening the divides among them.

By Ellen Barry @ NYTimes.com, Sept. 18, Updated 12:39 p.m. ET

[....]But then something shifted, seemingly overnight. What she saw on Twitter that Monday was a torrent of focused grievance that targeted her. In 15 years as an activist, largely advocating for the rights of Muslims, she had faced pushback, but this was of a different magnitude. A question began to form in her mind: Do they really hate me that much?

That morning, there were things going on that Ms. Sarsour could not imagine.

More than 4,000 miles away, organizations linked to the Russian government had assigned teams to the Women’s March. At desks in bland offices in St. Petersburg, using models derived from advertising and public relations, copywriters were testing out social media messages critical of the Women’s March movement, adopting the personas of fictional Americans.

They posted as Black women critical of white feminism, conservative women who felt excluded, and men who mocked participants as hairy-legged whiners. But one message performed better with audiences than any other.

It singled out an element of the Women’s March that might, at first, have seemed like a detail: Among its four co-chairs was Ms. Sarsour, a Palestinian American activist whose hijab marked her as an observant Muslim [....]

Agence France Presse via VOA.com, Sept. 13

YEREVAN, ARMENIA — Armenia and Azerbaijan reported nearly 100 troop deaths Tuesday in their worst fighting since a 2020 war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The last wave of fighting over Azerbaijan's tense Armenian-populated enclave ended in a fragile truce brokered by Russia.

But on Tuesday, the defense ministry in Baku said, "50 Azerbaijani servicemen died as a result of Armenia's large-scale provocation," while Armenia earlier reported the deaths of at least 49 of its soldiers.

Azerbaijan accused Armenia of violating the cease-fire after a night of clashes that renewed fears of another all-out conflict between the historic foes. Russia said it had reached a cease-fire between the warring parties that brought several hours of relative calm, but Azerbaijan later accused Armenian forces of "intensely" violating the agreement [....]

By Kevin Krause @ Dallas Morning News, Sept. 9

[....] Sovereign citizen ideology dates back to the 1970s when it was first dreamed up by white supremacists intent on defying the nation’s laws. And it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. In this era of rampant conspiracy mongering, sovereign citizens once dismissed as fringe actors have found a growing audience [....]

“We’re in a strange period where you’re seeing a lot of crossover with some of these extreme ideologies,” said Freddy Cruz, a research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center who specializes in anti-government extremism. “You have people becoming more and more radicalized.”

Now, Black Americans like [Jonathan] Reynolds are increasingly adopting sovereign principles to air grievances against the government and law enforcement. The Anti-Defamation League reports the movement’s biggest gains have occurred among Black Americans, some of whom identify as Moorish sovereign citizens, or Moors, who insist they were America’s first inhabitants.

Cruz said the movement’s tenets provide “simple solutions to harsh realities.” [....] But it’s also “sucking people into this world of conspiracy theories and falsehoods,” he said. Groups that track extremism, such as the ADL and SPLC, say they have noticed an increase in sovereign citizen activity. Estimates put their numbers between 300,000 and 500,000. But the movement has no leadership hierarchy or organizational structure, and official statistics are unavailable and possibly unattainable.

The Department of Homeland Security referred questions about sovereign citizens to the FBI. The FBI said in a written statement that it does not track adherents or open investigations “based solely on protected First Amendment activity.” “We focus on individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security,” the statement said. “We do not investigate ideology. The FBI investigates only when someone crosses the line from expressing beliefs to violating federal law.” [....]

@TheHill.com, Sept. 7

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised on Wednesday to pass a side deal on permitting reform with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to the massive tax, climate and health care bill despite growing opposition from progressive House Democrats.

Schumer said he will put permitting reform legislation that would speed the development of fossil fuel and other energy projects in the stopgap spending measure Congress needs to pass to keep the federal government funded beyond Sept. 30. “Our intention is to add it to the CR,” Schumer told reporters Wednesday, referring to the short-term continuing resolution to fund the government, which he said must get passed this month.

The decision will make it tougher for House progressives, who feel little obligation to help Manchin pass one of his top energy development priorities, to block it.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, has circulated a letter calling for a stand-alone vote on permitting reform measures. He told The Hill last week that 40 House lawmakers have already signed on [....]

um so, less than 1%! but let's freak out anyways?

We all make mistakes of course. But supporting Hillary in the 2016 primaries was quite the doozy. Those who remain proudly unapologetic now are beyond redemption.

No paywall for me