Marc Owens, who served for ten years as the head of the Internal Revenue Service division that oversees tax-exempt enterprises, recently reviewed these records. “The litany of red flags is just extraordinary,” he said. “The materials reflect one of the broadest arrays of likely transgressions that I’ve ever seen. There is a tremendous range of what appears to be the misuse of assets for the benefit of certain venders and people in control.” Owens added, “Those facts, if confirmed, could lead to the revocation of the N.R.A.’s tax-exempt status.”
Politics and media have long been vulnerable to this sort of affinity scamming, but the right seems to have really gone overboard. Brad DeLong was pointing out back in 2015 that the presidential candidacy of Ben Carson seemed to be run largely as a way to run a lucrative direct-mail operation and then use the publicity to hawk nutritional supplements. Trump’s campaign seems to have been the same thing, funneling campaign money into his enterprises and his own pockets. (The left is not immune to this same scam, of course: the Bernie Sanders campaign spent over $400,000 of donor money on copies of books by Bernie Sanders).
(Speaking of which, if any of you have access to the Financial Times, can you send me the text of this article about the prosperity gospel?)
Reinforcing my priors
Segregated by Design, a short film based on Richard Rothstein’s book The Color of Law.
Mainstream Republicans
65% of Republicans agree with the statement “When women demand equality these days, they’re actually asking for special favors.”
Disgraced ex-judge and alleged serial kiddie-diddler Roy Moore is leading in the polls ahead of 2020 Senate primary. “Polls this far out are mostly a matter of name recognition,” AL.com reminds us, but it’s still not a good look for rank-and-file Republicans.
Republican state legislator Matt Shea is under fire for his participation in a series of leaked chats encouraging violence against left-wing protestors. This is his second time in the hot seat. The first time was when his manifesto about slaughtering non-Christians leaked.
QAnon is just the normal Trump Train now.
Armed gangs of white nationalists have been rounding up asylum-seekers at the border, although the leader of the gang has now been detained by the FBI.
Trump nominee for the Federal reserve Stephen Moore believes that the 16th amendment is “evil” and that “capitalism is more important than democracy.” He also thinks women shouldn’t play sports unless they’re hot.
You can beat the rap, but you can’t beat the ride
Teen beaten by police.
Use of legal marijuana may still disqualify new immigrants from citizenship.
Bangladeshi teen Nusrat Jahan Rafi was burned to death for reporting sexual harassment by her high school teacher.
Alaskan high school boys stormed a girls’ bathroom in protest at the existence of a trans student. A girl who fought them has been expelled.
Sure, we locked you up for a week and put your kids in the foster system and you lost your job, but we’re not going to apologize for arresting the wrong person, that would imply wrongdoing. This was just a case of mistaken identity. Oops.
Cultivating Joy
Pennsylvania has selected an official state amphibian: The Eastern Hellbender. Also known as a “snot otter,” this enormous salamander falls decisively into the category of non-charismatic megafauna.
My brother sent this tip to me weeks ago, but taking panoramic pictures of moving pets is a recipe for horrifying laughter.
On the heels of birds compared to sneakers, here’s Cardi B compared to sociology texts.
Repurposed… for Science!
Secretly Ironic 