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I recently made the same points in a comment on Dan Rather‘s most recent essay. American journalism is not giving the people the information they need to understand. We are at war with a domestic enemy of the constitution. Journalism needs to stop acting like it is an observer and understand it is a participant in keeping democracy alive. if history shows journalism merely reported on the end of democracy that will go against everything the founding fathers wanted when they created freedom of the press

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I am continuously appalled at the apparent acceptance of fascists in our government .

Why is anyone going along with these fascist leaders?

De Santis is the first to come to mind but there are so many others. As to journalists why in hell are they talking about De Santis as a viable candidate for President in this Country.

He’s a lunatic hating fascist and is turning Florida into the ‘hate state. ‘

Oh I know there are many more where he came from . Trump paved the way for Fascism to become the new Bible of the allegedly ‘Christian’ right.

I agree completely that we need to start calling this what it is .

The College Boards people are an exact example of how this spreads .

They ceased to do their job in educating to the tune of reality and cowered under Desantis and his corruption.

So they now are added to the pile of corruption , fascism, and ignorance that the Republicans feed on.

Pennsylvania. Brooks County exhibiting Fascism. Sandusky, Ohio, every state in this Union have pockets of active fascism .

The only difference will be in how strongly the real freedom people . The Resisters fight against this by refusing to bury their heads in the sand.

Call out Fascism wherever you see it .

Police beating black lives to death . Governors raping the constitution and requiring the cataloguing of the female students menstrual cycles.

Attacks on LGBTQ and transgender people. Attacks on Jews , Muslims .

Allowing guns everywhere . Everywhere . Repealing laws w 50 years of precedent “ because they can”.

Accepting the number one cause of death in this country for children : gunshot deaths.

This is not the America we fought for and long for again . Trump unleashed powerful fascism .

And si far he’s paid no price. Nor have the office holders accompanying him on his fascist mission . Suppression of votes for minorities or anyone more likely to lean Democratic.

We poison poor people w toxic water .

Why do we allow states to bastardize the application of the Constitution of the United States?

Ask the Supreme Court far right fascist judges.

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Thanks Thom. I have been noticing over the last 6 months the increasing use of Fascism when referring to Trump and his minions. But, there has been a drop recently with the return of media to reporting traditional GOP campaigns for president (and some Senate). I'm not sure what is going on but DeSantis is not being referred to as part of the Fascist movement. Neither is Haley nor Pompeo nor any other of the myriad politicians working to out-trump Trump.

I fear the media is settling back into its comfort zone. Bothsidism, sports competition, worthless polling about popularity, repeating of glorifying photos and propaganda.

I fear that the utter silence emanating from the DoJ regarding the outrageous sedition by Fascist political leaders has contributed to this return to comfort zones.

I fear for the country being seduced into complacency when it should be preparing for war.

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I'm sure you saw today about private school in Sandusky Ohio that is pushing Nazism, praising Hitler, giving the salute, bashing African Americans, etc

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When you only have two parties in a country, and both are purchased 100% down to an overwhelming majority of all elected officials, you have a de facto set of government that looks, walks and talks precisely as any form of tyranny https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Tyranny can be philosophically and politically defined.

"DNC and Democratic Committee Refuses to close off Dark Money

https://www.commondreams.org/news/dnc-blocks-dark-money-ban

Once Again, DNC Panel Blocks Vote on Dark Money Ban in Democratic Primaries

Nevada Democratic Party Chair Judith Whitmer, the lead sponsor of the resolution, said that dark money is "being used to silence the voices our party most needs to hear."

In the US both parties are bought and paid for by Dark Money, year in and year out; the illusion by both the Liberal , i.e. the majority of the Democratic Party Anno 2022, and the Republican Party supporters is that we are getting unbiased news and information.

The Democratic Party's DNC https://democrats.org/ just showed its color by refusing, again, NOT to close the door to the current and future wide open door of corporate dark money. This is simply an admission that the Clinton Democrats https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/02/clinton-and-the-democrats/302112/ have moved even further into doing whatever is needed to keep control of the Democratic party in the hands of 500 select Super Urban decision makers.

Just exactly like the Republican Party has been doing.

Until the majority of the 320 million US voters decide to allocate $25 each month to 5-6 groups of non-profits that are objective and persistent enough to get all elections funded via public donations and all corporate money prohibited we will continue to escalate into one form of fascism, or another.

Mr. Hartman, perhaps, lumps too many 'absolutes' into one 'raving' analysis of what exactly constitutes 'fascism.' For example, almost 40% of voters are now bucking out of the pharmaceutical industry's Sickcare Model and choosing Alternative Healthcare providers https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/complementary-alternative-or-integrative-health-whats-in-a-name; these voters support an investigation of all facets of the Covid Reset of Everything and are questioning how the annually mandated Vaccine Laws have added dozens of annual so-called vaccines for our children in the last 30 years https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-history/developments-by-year. They are convinced that the CDC, the WHO and the FDA are completely controlled my corporate funds, and 'fascists' form both parties.

A significant percentage of voters who disagree with The Democratic party's current platform are desperately looking for a Sanders and Warren set of decisions. Butt the Clinton voters and the DNC and the 500 Member hidden Democratic Leadership are continuing their deceptive claims.

There are people who are quietly working to re-balance our lives and choices, but they need steady funding and a commitment from each of us to participate in the governance of our country:

The Brave Angels https://braverangels.org/

The Fulcrum News https://thefulcrum.us/your-take-on-religious-beliefs

The No Labels https://www.nolabels.org/

Mr. Hartman's Citations:

Roughly a quarter of Americans, according to a recent survey, are authoritarian followers and wannabee authoritarian leaders must compete for their loyalty and votes.

This leads to a performance art sort of “arms race” among those who aspire to lead the growing fascist movement in the United States and ultimately, thus, around the world. The stakes are high so they are working hard to one-up each other.

— When one authoritarian leader/Republican with higher ambitions criminalizes abortion, the next will go after birth control.

— When one bans discussion of Black history in schools, the next will ban books and prosecute teachers.

— When one throws hundreds of thousands of Black and Hispanic voters off the rolls, the next will criminalize voting so he can arrest and parade Black people before the cameras.

— When one bans mask mandates, another will invoke a grand jury to investigate vaccine manufacturers.

— If one villainizes Hispanic immigrants as “murderers and rapists,” another will put into place a vast surveillance system to identify workers in America sending money to relatives in Mexico.

Republicans have decried Social Security and similar programs as “socialist big government” that threatens Americans’ freedoms since the 1930s, but these same politicians today are busily erecting fascist big government systems to spy on their citizens, threaten girls and women with imprisonment, deny representation to racial minorities, and prevent access for their citizens to basic rights like healthcare — all while cutting taxes for their morbidly rich sponsors.

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How quaint, when we were frustrated by all the stammering euphemisms to talk around calling a lie a lie; a liar a liar. Then there was the outrage! if anyone dared to compare anybody to Hitler! I don't think "fascist" is out of that penalty box, as associated with WWII. Accuracy doesn't control reception. The term "authoritarian" is being co-opted by the fascists right now, to be redirected at "liberal oppression." Somehow evil always seems to get control of the vocabulary.

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He (Trump) is a wily one though. He wants others to think that he's not racist, because he's afraid for his own safety, so he lets others (Stephen Miller) do his dirty work, just as he did on 1/6, when he let his "foot soldiers" do his dirty work, then distances himself from them as they're now being sentenced. He calls himself the "stable genius", because he always looks out for his own safety.

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Agreed on every point, Thom. There is a reason for the failure to use language tied to the Holocaust. So many people for so long used it casually in the stupidest of circumstances that now, when the early behaviors of that era have manifested, some are reluctant to use it. It has taken the perpetrators calling themselves the names and giving the salute to get much of the news media to connect them.

My father left part of his young soul in the air over Germany when they dropped their bombs. Our family paid a price. I have always held what happened to him and the millions of others that lived and died during WWII as sacred.

Time to let go of that and call it as we see it, because we were doomed to repeat it. Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, African warlords, Balkan generals, and those who victimize indigenous people everywhere---these murderers will always be with us. Fascism is their method and means.

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What is the goal of gobs/repubs (fascists)? They have become quite open and blatant about it: money and power! Games, circus performances, smokescreens of lies and accusations notwithstanding. Their GOAL is money and power. Some politicians don't realize they are mere pawns in the service of the superrich they serve with much licking, kissing, bowing, and scraping. Even Trump is a psychopathic wild card, successful at conning the gullible; but not superrich. But he's still useful. To reach their goal democracy must be destroyed. Fascism can then be installed by the truly rich and powerful. The rich and powerful will use their loud and blathering puppets while they're useful. The Fascists will build a willing military and police force along with compliant courts to show a semblance of legitimacy (i.e. SCOTUS). More and more "little people" will become hungry, homeless, and destitute. Those not to ill and uneducated to resist (by deSantis and the like?) will be imprisoned or executed. Dissent will not be tolerated. As Madeleine Albright implied in "Fascism: A Warming" democracy is like a chicken being plucked, one feather at a time, until it is naked, helpless, and dead. It will be CON them or DESTROY them. Beware! Thanks to Thom for continuing to warn us all.

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founding

Kind of off topic. But I just heard a caller on your show suggest Hakeem Jeffers as a Presidential

Candidate, and after condemning the 109 Dems that voted for a resoultion that condemned socialism.

Does he not know that Hakeem, besides taking money from AHIP and PhRMA is one of the 109 that condemned socialist. Hakeem was also a huge recipient of AIPAC endorsement and funds, and not to mention one of the anti Progressive, conseravaDem "caucus"(The DCCC)

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A caller today had apparently come to the conclusion that the problems of the entire world would be solved if we would just place ethics front and center so that every person would be focused on acting in the interest of others or acting in a way that goodness, decency, and altruistic principles were guiding their thoughts and motivations. One can be forgiven for being naïve or for hoping to spread the philosophy leading to Utopia.

But we would do well to look for ways to counter the selfishness and insensitivity that seems to have spread like a virus in our society. We need to know where the followers of authoritarians and fascists are becoming accustomed to being submissive, acquiescent, passive, and obedient or why they emulate the antisocial attitudes and behaviors of such people.

I agree with Madeline Albright that Fascism is about power, rather than an ideology. But it requires the participation of the powerless who have failed to correctly identify the reasons for their impotence.

I have to admit, however, that I was very distressed when Thom’s response to that caller was to say that he believes there should be ethical training in the elementary grade curriculum. What next; classes in how to share one’s toys? I am firmly convinced that ethics, morality, values, principles, respect, civility or manners, honesty, humility, and things of that nature cannot be taught as part of a structured and educationally designed course or preordained curriculum.

Indeed, this is precisely how we have created followers. First of all, the institution must be founded on and centered on ethics and the values we have chosen for ourselves. Secondly, the behaviors and attitudes must be modelled by adults. And thirdly, the children must have the opportunity to experience trial and error and to live in a way that allows them to incorporate these things into their daily lives without inordinate judgment or humiliation and punishment for undesired acts or behaviors.

When children see inconsistency, disrespect, hypocrisy, and arbitrary authority, and when they or their peers are routinely shamed and embarrassed or even humiliated for minor infractions or for not being fully compliant, they do not take away the message that was intended. When the entire edifice is built on pleasing adults or authority figures according to their whims or superior abilities and knowledge, no matter how sweet and kind they may be, something precious is lost.

I think we are starting to uncover some of the mythology that has prevented us from implementing and inculcating our values today. I think we all know that there is something in our institutions which undermines the very things we are trying to instill in young people. Being honest with ourselves has to be the first step to change. We have handed power to people who should not have it.

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founding

There are at least 109 Democrats in the House, including Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn that are in lock step with the fascists. https://www.rawstory.com/progressives-warn-house-new-resolution-backed-by-109-dems-is-step-toward-slashing-safety-net/

I will never get over how Bennie Thompson and the J6 committee, let the sedentionists in Congress, the Trump administration, DoJ, FBI, DoD off the hook allowing Liz Cheney to steer it all towards Trump.

Laziness, stupidity, cowardice?

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This film is powerful.

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