20 Comments

Dear heavens😳 The purple you meet.

"He seemed like such a nice, normal person"... isn't that what the neighbours always say when someone does something unbelievably awful?

Expand full comment

The people... not "The purple"😬😳🙄

Expand full comment

Totally understood you. FYI - you can click on the ... on the right of your comment and select edit and fix any typos.

Expand full comment

I admire your friendly openness. You didn’t know he was a crank when you gave him your number.

Now he has more to fear from you than you do from him. He may have your number, but now you have his. FBI needs to hear from you.

Expand full comment

You gladdened my heart with Tony and Norm. MAGA people make so much noise and take up so much space that it cuts the sunshine and the breathable air. I hope, given the chance, that I would eagerly pitch in with those two dedicated gentlemen. More bravery and stepping up is required in these times. Michelle Obama restored my faith. Then we had the ugly night at Madison SquareGarden. Those are my home stomping grounds, and I bitterly resent those people saying all the hateful things they said in my backyard. It would be nice if these idiot zealots who believe in brainless Trump and his great economic vision (or a, concept of it) which will help all except (list everyone in country save white high school dropouts with an entitlement fixation) a few. Mawkish is the word that comes to mind for Trump’s ideas and reprehensible covers his supporters.

Taking the vile-intentioned people out of circulation via the law is the best possible thing I can think of doing—but we must keep at it to stomp out these authoritarian tendencies. Show the world that America is the home of the brave and the free!

Thank you for risking life, limb and phone to report.

Expand full comment

I’m so glad you found and highlighted these two heroes, then brought them to us. This is real journalism. And sorry about the Nazi guy.

Expand full comment

As a cyclist, the bigger threat to America are the logging truck drivers of Idaho. However, the prettiest one day ride I ever did was from Sand Point, Idaho to Thompson Falls, Montana.

Expand full comment

"Hey FBI? Yeah, this is Donegan. I met a guy who told me about how he went on 'night ops' yesterday practicing with his buddies in case Donny Convict loses. Yeah. Yeah, that's the guy. You know about him already. You've got the probable cause warrant drafted and a judge ready to sign it. Right. Well, carry on. Thanks. G'bye." <click>

Expand full comment

A huge thanks for telling the story of Norm Gissel, Tony Stewart, and the people of Coeur d’Alene. Those who tell of the struggle for justice are as important as those on the front line. I’d hazard a guess that John Lewis would say that you’ve earned your stripes.

Expand full comment

I sincerely hope you made a call as that person definitely indicates a threat.

Expand full comment

Numpties. Galdo.

Expand full comment

Norm and Tony sound like MAGA. Fighting back against crazies by actually following the rules. Did you ask them?

Never heard of the 3-Percenters but it was quite easy to read about them in their own words: https://www.3percenters.org/about-us

Nothing to do with neo-nazis or racism. No wonder he was polite and friendly.

Expand full comment

C’mon, Lawrence - how about at least a final comment about the election?

What’s your take on what happened? It all seemed to be going so well for the Dems, at the grassroots level.

Expand full comment

No post-election post? I was thinking about what you wrote about his lack of “ground game” and how that would predict a landslide win for Harris, but I thought then that the ground game had moved online, and I guess that seems to be the case.

Trumpism has, in my view, won the middle class on the socioeconomic left-right axis (DESPITE his rhetoric) and has won the working class on the identitarian GAL-TAN axis (BECAUSE of his rhetoric). This will spread all over the Western world (it’s already here in Sweden), and I think that this order will dominate Western politics for the foreseeable future.

Expand full comment

sir, your writing is reminiscent of ian rankin, and it’s beautiful.

Expand full comment

I read a great deal about these morons on SPLC’s web page and publications.

Also, Dr. Raphael Ezekiel, a psychologist, interviewed Dr. Richard Girnt Butler, leader of this alleged band, and attended one of their rallies, and wrote them up in his chilling book, “The Racist Mind.”

Fascinating reportage and analysis of both. It’s on Amazon. And my desk.

Expand full comment

Confucius say, “Orange Man speak with forked tongue, he the f****d one.”

Expand full comment

"3%-er" probably means that's the only part of his brain power he’s got left.

Expand full comment