Waco

Cockburn was in Waco, Texas, this weekend, covering the first official rally of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. He nearly passed out from both physical and political exhaustion. Despite using his press pass to bypass the line, Cockburn's populist streak led him to refrain from joining the other hacks ensconced on the press dais. After having his vape confiscated by the TSA, he chose instead to meander through the crowd of cranky boomers murmuring about the lack of water amid the sweltering Texas heat, which approached ninety degrees on the tarmac of the Waco Regional Airport. Cockburn could relate.

It is easy to laugh at the young people who have built the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in Seattle. A group of anarchists and leftists collected in Capitol Hill, known for its hipster and LGBT scenes, they have barricaded themselves into a small area and established an anarchic intentional community, modeled, perhaps, on the work of Hakim Bey — known for his endorsement of ‘temporary autonomous zones’. Bey is also known because of unfortunate links to the pederast group the North American Man/Boy Love Association, but let’s leave that aside for now.