How do we fight it? Resist it? Half this country is completely addle brained from the past seven years. The other half is alarmed as Hell and we vote and we send $$ and march and sign petitions... are we making any headway against the utterly Unaware who violently and abusively are handing this country over to the likes of jim jordan?
I want to make posters and bumper stickers that read:
“If you’re not woke, then wake up! Your House is on fire!”
I don’t know what we can do but we better be about making some decisions and following through with them . One advantage of the ‘ Liars’ is they are well funded by the same corporations that are raping this country.
I'm quite hopeful. Check out the brilliant master plan of Michael Moore's on his 12 episodes, "A Blue Dot in a Red Sea." www.michaelmoore.com Between the brilliance of Thom Hartmann and the very practical plan of MM's we can regain our democracy. For inspiration you may wish to listen to episode 7 first. Just heard that Katie Porter is running for Senate. About time. As a native of CA I'm hoping that Zoomers will clean out Congress of the old and corporate, which seems to be most of Congress.
Dear Lord , what have we here? The Right Wings admission to Authoritarianism via Kevin McCarthy . Who allowed himself to be trampled by Magas who agreed to let him hold up the Speakers placard, if he did everything they told him to .
No problem , they want to give credence to the laws they broke in order to further Donald Trumps career lies to the American people.
Thats right; enter Jim Jordan the second biggest liar in Congress . Who is now going to show us what happens when investigation of crimes committed recognize him as a criminal . He’ll show us . They rewarded him with a Committee.
So, now we know he’s going to go after agencies who collected evidence of his crimes.
And there is no question that he will continue to make a big noise with his lying accusations .
This is the Authoritarian Republican Party . The purveyors of lies without any basis in reality whatsoever , Kevin Mc Carthy sold a dried out remnant of a sliver of his original soul. To the Magas including Jim Jordan , who clearly Wants to prosecute the the Victims of their Coup. The American Democracy, the government and its citizens. God help us all.
It is so interesting that Corporations have free speech but now regular American Citizens will not. This is not what America stands for. Why have we let Fox News pretend they are a news organization and 80% of the "news" come from the right wing liars. McCarthy and the late McCarthy. WOW. I think half the Republican voters don't even know who the first one was.
Unfortunately we as citizens of this country get the representation we vote for- fascist authoritarian morons, screaming monkeys, propagandists gaslighting the electorate, totally inept to govern and unable to present legislation that actually would benefit Americans. In a simple synopsis may I present the 2023 Republican party. Blaming Democrats for this clown car party of idiots is ridiculous. The Republicans made this mess and own it . Even though in their self -righteousness they think they have the high moral ground, the legislation they spew out is based on rewarding corporate donors and no one else and based mostly on half truths, half facts and little else. Again when you have a dumbed down, non critical- thinking electorate who are too lazy to understand how government works then you get what you pay for.
I whole heartedly blame the democrats over the last 40 years for not having a 50 state strategy, did not listen or stand up for Howard Dean when he proposed one. Yes, the blame game will get us no where but the dems never seem to wake up and smell the coffee.
There has been no accountability for politicians or the super rich for how many decades?
The authoritarian storm moving thru our nation & body politics has already taken a wrecking ball to the following:
-Journalists (including the state sanctioned murder of Jamal Khashoggi)
-Teachers/librarians : Elon Musk tweeted that progressive teachers are the “root of all evil”, as if considering gender over 10,000 years of human history is a national security threat. Florida has led the way on restricting speech in classrooms. Tennessee attacking basic knowledge curriculum. Banning books. On and on…
-Scientists: Just wait for the Get Fauci committees to launch. Rejection of climate science
-Doctors/nurses: I mean, what do they know?
-Election workers (some of the most truly patriotic citizens we have)
-elected officials: I mean, what’s the harm in a little parking lot intimidation, death threats, or governor kidnap plotting?
-actors & creatives: liberal child blood sucking monsters/ lizard people
-Students: too innocent & stupid to learn accurate American history
-Law enforcement: defund the FBI they are criminals
This is the pattern for every liberal (literally meaning “open minded”) purge throughout history: eradicate/silence the educated professionals. It’s been 80 years since the HUAC trials-doesn’t history run in 80 year cycles?
The first order of business for Republicans is to protect the gains of their multi-millionaire and billionaire sponsors, who have already acquired 90% of America's corporate wealth, which the 2017 Republican Tax Law exempted from our progressive income tax system. This law ensures increasingly higher Fed debt and deficits, unless major programs like Social Security, Medicare, and "affordable" health care are scaled back to the point of elimination. It also insures high inflation, growing income and wealth gaps, and gobs of money to support R politicians. Their surest route to this goal is to undermine democracy so they can't be voted out of office or be democratically interrupted.
The third order of business for the Republicans is to eliminate governmental regulation to the point when workers will be at greater risk and vulnerability, and all Americans will face environmental harm and destruction. Apparently, there are people on the far right who think they can survive in the moment with their great wealth. They are more worried about maintaining their wealth than their children's health. To illustrate this point one only has to look at the EPA under Trump:
And this is how the biggest funder of Republican politicians, who is also one of the leading anti-democratic forces and a union-buster, runs one of his businesses:
The obscenely wealthy do their evil behind a curtain of privacy. They have total freedom, in absolute secrecy, to satisfy any desires money can buy. They live in another universe. How do we even find these monsters let alone stop them from … well, from killing us? Which is exactly what they’re doing by ripping away/destroying/poisoning our earned retirement savings, what little healthcare we can access, the meager U.S. safety net, and our water, air and food.
We have a fair idea of who they are and their total expenditures; For example, Robert Mercer & Family spent at least 49 million in the 2016 election cycle:
Thank you for bringing this very apt comparison to the attention of your readers. I have been thinking this for months, as I lived through those horrifying times of the McCarthy era.
I seriously believe that even we private citizens who are outspoken about our decidedly anti-MAGA views on social media will be in danger. If they make a few examples of regular folks getting targeted, harassed, even thrown in jail, the chilling effect on opposition speech will be profound. Gym Jordan easily could decide that anyone commenting negatively on his Twitter or fb page is an enemy of the state. God knows what hell these fascist demons will unleash. In the meantime, WHERE (AND WHEN) IS THE “OVERWHELMING RESISTANCE”???
Yes we do . Weve talked about this forever . I think people actually believed that if we were fair and courteous this group of diabolics would change . These people are evil
And will do whatever it takes to have power including a coup. And another coup. This time in writing by their perpetrators in Congress The Republicans . They have only one rule : to overpower at any cost.
One of the first phrases out of McCarthy's mouth -- referring to Trump as "President Trump". That told me all I needed to hear -- the criminals behind the Jan. 6 insurrection were in control of the House. The worst of it is what Kathy Tankersley says in her comment, that the American electorate made this possible. The climate's going to s**t, and so is your country. Thank God for independent journalists like Thom, and others, or we wouldn't have a clue what was happening.
“The people – the people – are the rightful masters of both congresses and courts – not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it.”
And we never took Trump seriously until.... These guys are two-bit Nazi thugs but, as our own General Milley said, "We're the guys with the guns." Don't worry Thom, we'll start a GoFundMe page for your bail and legal fees. Or, better yet, take a page from the Republican Party and run for office - campaign funds will take care of everything.
If someone can hold the FBI and the spy agencies such as the NSA and CIA accountable for their unwarranted and unconstitutional surveillance of the American people along with suppression of all dissent, I'm all in. I don't care if it's the Democrats, the Republicans, or whomever. Something needs to be done to rein them in.
The social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become extensions of the government surveillance and propaganda network and Wall Street is happy to support them.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines fascism in part as "a capitalist economy subject to stringent governmental controls, violent suppression of the opposition, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism." It also posits control by a dictator. Except for the dictator part, it seems to be a pretty good definition of the society in which we now live. In place of a dictator, we have the Security State and wealthy elites not only controlling the economy, but also telling us what we are allowed to think and say. (See the Twitter Files.)
Gym Jordan will be the loudmouth carnival barker for this clown show. He refused to appear for a subpoena from the Jan 6 commitee, so why would the FBI or Justice Dept. respond to his subpoena? What would this new clown show do, refer refusers to the Justice Dept? The investigators will investigate the very investigators whose job it is to catch criminals like the Republicans on the commitee. Get your popcorn ready. It will be a comic classic show making fools of the producers running it.
It's so bad it could get good -- something will be a final straw. When I was a naïve 21, working in the casting department of a big New York ad agency, it was my job to deliver a list of actors we wanted to call in to read for commercials to a room marked CLEARANCE to find out who we were not permitted to call. Unbelievable -- that this was going on and also that I didn't have any opinion about it!
How do we fight it? Resist it? Half this country is completely addle brained from the past seven years. The other half is alarmed as Hell and we vote and we send $$ and march and sign petitions... are we making any headway against the utterly Unaware who violently and abusively are handing this country over to the likes of jim jordan?
I want to make posters and bumper stickers that read:
“If you’re not woke, then wake up! Your House is on fire!”
With a photo of the Capitol.
I don’t know what we can do but we better be about making some decisions and following through with them . One advantage of the ‘ Liars’ is they are well funded by the same corporations that are raping this country.
Two other advantages they have:
The House
The SCOTUS.
I worry many of us will sink into despair. We need to be more like Ukrainians.
So true, but it is alarming that it is really a minority of the country who will bring us down.
It only takes ine partner to destroy a marriage. When tRump gained the Oval, the R’s filed for divorce.
They really are Abusive Husbands! Smacking our democracy around like drunken nazis.
I'm quite hopeful. Check out the brilliant master plan of Michael Moore's on his 12 episodes, "A Blue Dot in a Red Sea." www.michaelmoore.com Between the brilliance of Thom Hartmann and the very practical plan of MM's we can regain our democracy. For inspiration you may wish to listen to episode 7 first. Just heard that Katie Porter is running for Senate. About time. As a native of CA I'm hoping that Zoomers will clean out Congress of the old and corporate, which seems to be most of Congress.
Dear Lord , what have we here? The Right Wings admission to Authoritarianism via Kevin McCarthy . Who allowed himself to be trampled by Magas who agreed to let him hold up the Speakers placard, if he did everything they told him to .
No problem , they want to give credence to the laws they broke in order to further Donald Trumps career lies to the American people.
Thats right; enter Jim Jordan the second biggest liar in Congress . Who is now going to show us what happens when investigation of crimes committed recognize him as a criminal . He’ll show us . They rewarded him with a Committee.
So, now we know he’s going to go after agencies who collected evidence of his crimes.
And there is no question that he will continue to make a big noise with his lying accusations .
This is the Authoritarian Republican Party . The purveyors of lies without any basis in reality whatsoever , Kevin Mc Carthy sold a dried out remnant of a sliver of his original soul. To the Magas including Jim Jordan , who clearly Wants to prosecute the the Victims of their Coup. The American Democracy, the government and its citizens. God help us all.
It is so interesting that Corporations have free speech but now regular American Citizens will not. This is not what America stands for. Why have we let Fox News pretend they are a news organization and 80% of the "news" come from the right wing liars. McCarthy and the late McCarthy. WOW. I think half the Republican voters don't even know who the first one was.
Unfortunately we as citizens of this country get the representation we vote for- fascist authoritarian morons, screaming monkeys, propagandists gaslighting the electorate, totally inept to govern and unable to present legislation that actually would benefit Americans. In a simple synopsis may I present the 2023 Republican party. Blaming Democrats for this clown car party of idiots is ridiculous. The Republicans made this mess and own it . Even though in their self -righteousness they think they have the high moral ground, the legislation they spew out is based on rewarding corporate donors and no one else and based mostly on half truths, half facts and little else. Again when you have a dumbed down, non critical- thinking electorate who are too lazy to understand how government works then you get what you pay for.
What will you do about this??
I whole heartedly blame the democrats over the last 40 years for not having a 50 state strategy, did not listen or stand up for Howard Dean when he proposed one. Yes, the blame game will get us no where but the dems never seem to wake up and smell the coffee.
There has been no accountability for politicians or the super rich for how many decades?
I get your point about democratic blame but it does seem like blaming the victim of the fascist strategy.
The authoritarian storm moving thru our nation & body politics has already taken a wrecking ball to the following:
-Journalists (including the state sanctioned murder of Jamal Khashoggi)
-Teachers/librarians : Elon Musk tweeted that progressive teachers are the “root of all evil”, as if considering gender over 10,000 years of human history is a national security threat. Florida has led the way on restricting speech in classrooms. Tennessee attacking basic knowledge curriculum. Banning books. On and on…
-Scientists: Just wait for the Get Fauci committees to launch. Rejection of climate science
-Doctors/nurses: I mean, what do they know?
-Election workers (some of the most truly patriotic citizens we have)
-elected officials: I mean, what’s the harm in a little parking lot intimidation, death threats, or governor kidnap plotting?
-actors & creatives: liberal child blood sucking monsters/ lizard people
-Students: too innocent & stupid to learn accurate American history
-Law enforcement: defund the FBI they are criminals
This is the pattern for every liberal (literally meaning “open minded”) purge throughout history: eradicate/silence the educated professionals. It’s been 80 years since the HUAC trials-doesn’t history run in 80 year cycles?
Lots to ponder ✌🏽
The first order of business for Republicans is to protect the gains of their multi-millionaire and billionaire sponsors, who have already acquired 90% of America's corporate wealth, which the 2017 Republican Tax Law exempted from our progressive income tax system. This law ensures increasingly higher Fed debt and deficits, unless major programs like Social Security, Medicare, and "affordable" health care are scaled back to the point of elimination. It also insures high inflation, growing income and wealth gaps, and gobs of money to support R politicians. Their surest route to this goal is to undermine democracy so they can't be voted out of office or be democratically interrupted.
The third order of business for the Republicans is to eliminate governmental regulation to the point when workers will be at greater risk and vulnerability, and all Americans will face environmental harm and destruction. Apparently, there are people on the far right who think they can survive in the moment with their great wealth. They are more worried about maintaining their wealth than their children's health. To illustrate this point one only has to look at the EPA under Trump:
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-trump-administration-has-pulled-back-on-regulating-toxic-chemicals
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-reverses-insecticide-ban-dow-chemicals/
https://theintercept.com/2021/03/31/intercepted-ethylene-oxide-trump-cancer-epa/
https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/analysis-trump-epa-approved-100-plus-products-pesticides-banned-elsewhere-or-slated-us-phaseout-2020-01-07/
https://newrepublic.com/article/169929/soot-lobby-epa-rules-air-quality?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tnr_daily
And this is how the biggest funder of Republican politicians, who is also one of the leading anti-democratic forces and a union-buster, runs one of his businesses:
https://www.propublica.org/article/rising-profits-rising-injuries-the-safety-crisis-at-koch-industries-georgia-pacific
https://time.com/5685528/koch-industries-corporate-power/
The obscenely wealthy do their evil behind a curtain of privacy. They have total freedom, in absolute secrecy, to satisfy any desires money can buy. They live in another universe. How do we even find these monsters let alone stop them from … well, from killing us? Which is exactly what they’re doing by ripping away/destroying/poisoning our earned retirement savings, what little healthcare we can access, the meager U.S. safety net, and our water, air and food.
We have a fair idea of who they are and their total expenditures; For example, Robert Mercer & Family spent at least 49 million in the 2016 election cycle:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/04/05/the-amount-robert-mercer-spent-on-politics-in-2016-likely-topped-30-million/
In case you never hear of him, and his daughter, here's an introduction:
https://www.salon.com/2021/02/04/how-one-billionaire-family-bankrolled-election-lies-white-nationalism--and-the-capitol-riot/
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-reclusive-hedge-fund-tycoon-behind-the-trump-presidency
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/robert-mercer-family-gave-nearly-20-million-to-dark-money-gop-fund-during-2020-election.html
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/robert-mercer-breitbart-war-on-media-steve-bannon-donald-trump-nigel-farage
Yes, the Mercers are among the worst.
Thank you for bringing this very apt comparison to the attention of your readers. I have been thinking this for months, as I lived through those horrifying times of the McCarthy era.
I seriously believe that even we private citizens who are outspoken about our decidedly anti-MAGA views on social media will be in danger. If they make a few examples of regular folks getting targeted, harassed, even thrown in jail, the chilling effect on opposition speech will be profound. Gym Jordan easily could decide that anyone commenting negatively on his Twitter or fb page is an enemy of the state. God knows what hell these fascist demons will unleash. In the meantime, WHERE (AND WHEN) IS THE “OVERWHELMING RESISTANCE”???
Yes we do . Weve talked about this forever . I think people actually believed that if we were fair and courteous this group of diabolics would change . These people are evil
And will do whatever it takes to have power including a coup. And another coup. This time in writing by their perpetrators in Congress The Republicans . They have only one rule : to overpower at any cost.
How MUST we respond to effect a change .?????????
One of the first phrases out of McCarthy's mouth -- referring to Trump as "President Trump". That told me all I needed to hear -- the criminals behind the Jan. 6 insurrection were in control of the House. The worst of it is what Kathy Tankersley says in her comment, that the American electorate made this possible. The climate's going to s**t, and so is your country. Thank God for independent journalists like Thom, and others, or we wouldn't have a clue what was happening.
“The people – the people – are the rightful masters of both congresses and courts – not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it.”
Lincoln Speech in Kansas, December 1859
And we never took Trump seriously until.... These guys are two-bit Nazi thugs but, as our own General Milley said, "We're the guys with the guns." Don't worry Thom, we'll start a GoFundMe page for your bail and legal fees. Or, better yet, take a page from the Republican Party and run for office - campaign funds will take care of everything.
If someone can hold the FBI and the spy agencies such as the NSA and CIA accountable for their unwarranted and unconstitutional surveillance of the American people along with suppression of all dissent, I'm all in. I don't care if it's the Democrats, the Republicans, or whomever. Something needs to be done to rein them in.
The social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become extensions of the government surveillance and propaganda network and Wall Street is happy to support them.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines fascism in part as "a capitalist economy subject to stringent governmental controls, violent suppression of the opposition, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism." It also posits control by a dictator. Except for the dictator part, it seems to be a pretty good definition of the society in which we now live. In place of a dictator, we have the Security State and wealthy elites not only controlling the economy, but also telling us what we are allowed to think and say. (See the Twitter Files.)
doG help us all for we are truly f***ed.
Gym Jordan will be the loudmouth carnival barker for this clown show. He refused to appear for a subpoena from the Jan 6 commitee, so why would the FBI or Justice Dept. respond to his subpoena? What would this new clown show do, refer refusers to the Justice Dept? The investigators will investigate the very investigators whose job it is to catch criminals like the Republicans on the commitee. Get your popcorn ready. It will be a comic classic show making fools of the producers running it.
It's so bad it could get good -- something will be a final straw. When I was a naïve 21, working in the casting department of a big New York ad agency, it was my job to deliver a list of actors we wanted to call in to read for commercials to a room marked CLEARANCE to find out who we were not permitted to call. Unbelievable -- that this was going on and also that I didn't have any opinion about it!