We should never lose sight of the fact that many of these people with fascist tendencies sincerely believe that they are acting at the direction of or on behalf of "the Lord" or God, and have forgotten that their lord said clearly that "vengeance is mine". They have no compunction about being the agent of punishment and violence because they imagine they are following scripture or god's will. The Constitution and "man's rules" or laws are secondary or irrelevant in their little minds. We are up against much more than just a bunch of testosterone-fueled egotists and power-hungry politicians. Religious fanaticism and fascism are the consequence of ignorance, fear, and insularity. Politics and law enforcement will have no effect on them.
These Christian fasciss are solipsists. They are the god that they believe in. When their bible says Vengeance is mine, they see themselves as god. They cut and paste their holy book, selecting the verses that fulfill their needs and assuage their fears, thus they ignore Matthew 25, but assiduously read Luke 19:27 )Bring those who would not have me reign over them and slaughter them,Or Luke 22: 36-38, sell your cloak and buy a sword.
Same thing with Leviticus, over 300 commandments (Leviticus means book of laws), they ignore and discard most that are inconvenient, like wearing clothing of mixed fabric, prohibition of eating shellfish, but cleave to those that reinforce the supremacy of the patriarchy.
For themtheir holy book is simply a tool, which they use as an appeal to a higher authority, to justify the policies and actions that will fulfill their needs and assuage their fears.
It is the same with their god, they use it as a sock puppet for the same reason.
The sock puppet image is great. I’ll have to remember that one. So true. There is something in the Bible to justify just about any position anyone wishes to take. How the writing of so many authors got selected to ostensibly represent the “word of God” is beyond me. You appear to know much more about the content than I do or than most people do. I grew up in an evangelical Baptist family with preachers, evangelists, missionaries, ministers, etc., but abandoned the whole mythology in my early twenties. They are for the most part good people but fascist thinking and ideology has infiltrated many of the churches and schools now and the people who have a strong desire to play god and to use religion to dominate others have risen to the top in many places. Fox Noise is their church.
I pulled a few books from my shelf that you may already be familiar with or you may want to check out. One is, “Jesus: What He Really Said & did” by Stephen Mitchell. One for believers is “The Great Awakening” by Jim Wallis. Another one you probably know is “American Fascists” by Chris Hedges. “The End of Faith” by Sam Harris is for real skeptics, as I recall. The last I found in doing a quick scan was “The Age of American Unreason” by Susan Jacoby. Hers is less about religious influence I believe, but I’m sure she explains a lot about its relationship to the right-wing political landscape.
Other than speaking truth to power and spreading the truth whenever possible, I’m not sure what ordinary people can do. My mission is to show how this garbage has crept into schools and how it is validated there because of how it parallels the subtle and frequently not-so-subtle philosophy of children in need of stern discipline so they can concentrate on their studies (60% behavior modification and right-wing propaganda promoting obedience), the strict father metaphor, and the sick theory of original sin. The open invitation to these things is the compulsory attendance law which requires arbitrary authority and an authoritarian bureaucracy.
I read the bible front to cover at age 12. I was an avid reader. First book I read, was checked out from the project library at age 8, the Odyssey. Gives you an idea of where I was. I was fortunate to have read the Bible by myself, and not guided by some Bible class, which selects passages for you to study. However I read the whole thing and at age 12, picked up on the siliness , contradictions and genocide that Yahweh not only condoned but ordered I was horrified. Read it again front to cover post Vietnam, and have browsed through it countless times, in referencing parts which I have replied to on the internet forums .
As regards my knowledge of Judaism and Christianity, I am a avocational historian, and availed myself of literature, that you won't find in the public library, or in a Christian book shop, certainly not in a Vatican source. Mainly because they are centuries old, like Anacalypsis: Drawing aside the Saitic Veil, by Godfrey Higgins two thick volumes of fine,foot note like print. And the hidden history of Christianity, starting with the symbol that Constantine painted on the shields of his soldiers at the battle of the Milivan bridge (the Chi Rho, not the cross, which was the signet of the fierce warrior goddess Astarte. A great example of pyschological warfare for it struck fear in the hearts of the oppposing army.
He never converted, not even on his death bed as the Catholic church proclaims. he made Christianity the state religion, because it is easier to control one priesthood, than the hundreds that Rome endured. Also he needed to quiet the uproar on Roman streets and markets, as there were hundreds of "apostles" preaching their own version in the markets and the din must have been horrendous
He gathered up the most influental (influencers) and sequestered them under guard in far off Anatolia (Nicea), plied them with wine and boys, and told them that they couldn't come out until they arrived at a consensus and a uniform doctrine.
There were bloody fights, and the Trinitarians won the day,and that became Catholic Dogma.An ything else became heresy, resulting in the Albegensian crusade and the Crusade against the Wendts of the Baltic (which were pagans). The Albegensian crusade3 resulted in the death of millions of Cathars, gnostics who believed that Jesus was a mortal and not part of a Trinity, in Southern France. There was also persecution of the Arians, and before all of that, Pope Leo "The Great" was tossing Manicheans to the lions with all of the glee formerly reserved for Christians.
Mani was a Greek prophet who preached a Greek form of Zoroastrianism.
A Manichean priest, whom the Catholic church named of the greatest (Augustine) saw what was happening to Manicheans and converted to Christianity and became an ardent Christian, influencing Catholic doctrine and literature, which he was able to skillfully Manicheanized
Examples, neither the Jews nor early Christians had any concept of a good god vs an evil god, that was pure Zorastrianism Ahura Mazda vs Ahriman, nor heaven or hell. Augustine imported the planet Venus in her role as Lucifer, the bringer of light, the morning star, as the bad god, also given the name Satan.. A light bringer is also an enlightener, a purveyor of knowledge and advocate of critical thinking, which was and is inimical to doctrinaire religion. The believer is suppose to rely on and accept without questioning the interpretations, interpolations, mutterings and mutterings of religious authorities. To be a good Jew, Christian, Muslim one must be a mental child, with no thoughts of their own, no critical reasoning skills, to accept without question all interpretations and utterings of their betters.
The old testament was hashed together from tales that the learned elite of the peoples, then known as JAATS, had access to in the library of Babylon, where they worked as attendants and librarians. These were the tales of the Sumerians, passed on the Akkadians, ending up in the hands of the Babylonians, as well as a co option of the various Gods and hero's which were prominent in the Levant at the time. Solomon was the wise fish god of Assyria mixed with the historical tales of two or more kings of Syria.
Solomon's father David was made of fragments of the Storm god (Uru) and the pig god (NINIP
with some history added, the history however belonged to Syria not Judah.
Genesis is a;; too obvious, an adaptation of Sumerian sources like the Epic of Gilgamesh,of which the creators of the tribal religion put their own spin on. Noah means rest or repose and the hero of the flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh is Utnapishtim, whose name means day of life or life day, and is synonymous with repose or rest.
The other books were written 500 to a 1000 years after the events they were suppose to be recording, and Deuteronomy, which is Leviticus in narrative form, was written 1,000 years after the so called Exodus.
The Exodus of which no mention exists in the Egyptian writings, happened during the reign of Rameses III, not Rameses II. And it was not as we are told, freedom from slavery, the people the Egyptians called the Habiru (cuthroat or thief) were expellled from Egypt and there was no Egyptian army chasing them, no parting of the red sea. But one does not create a tribal myth with we were expelled from Egypt. By the time Ferdinand and Isabella and Edward I expelled them from Spain and England, literacy, the spread of education and books inhibited a repetition of "let me people go".
I have discerned, primarily because of the similarity of words in Pashtun and Hebrew (in fact there was a place in Pakistan called Talmud), the the Hebrew came from the Indus Valley and were merchants, camel drivers, consequently settling in at commercial centers like Babylon and Tyre.
When Cyrus the great, whom they called messiah, besieged Babylon, unwilling to die for a foreign king, they negotiated their deal with Cyrus, opened the gates, and for that he rewarded them with Uru Salem, (Jerusalem). Actually I would do the same. Why give up your life for a king and peoples with whom you have no connection or loyalty.
As regards the authors you mention. I was a fan of Chris Hedges, until he came out as a Putinite, a Russo phille, just one of the many on the left, that are so ideologically opposed to colonialism and imperialism that they reflexively side with the other side, even though Russia is a quasi theocratic, misogynistic, homophobic, racist, oligarchic state, that persecutres,, murders or jails journalists, dissenters.
I am familar with the Great Awakening, there were actually two, one in the post revolutionnary war south in the 18th and another in the 19th Century, both were launched by New England religious fanatics, who preached essentially the puritan version of the gospel. Thus cults like the Southern Baptists are teaching Puritan versions of protestantism,
We can legitimately blame the culture war, which pervades the south and the midwest, on their adaptation of the Puritans beliefs and doctrine.
The intolerant and self righteous Puritans are behind the current culture war
Independent thinking is hard. Turning over all the decision-making to someone else is such a relief. Erich Fromm had a book: "Escape from Freedom" On the cover it says: "Freedom can be frightening; Totalitarianism can be tempting...." 1941
I'm trying to remember when I read Fromm's great book. It had to be in the late sixties or early seventies. I believe it was an important foundation, along with "Animal House" and "1984" that stimulated my thinking relative to compulsory schooling. It is such a short leap from being conditioned to rely on others to "teach" and mold your beliefs and to "correct" you when you are too willful or autonomous to just accepting the power that authorities exert over you and going with the flow. Bad religion is where it all comes from, I believe. Vengeance is too often about blaming the victim and rebelling against someone or some group in lieu of rebelling against the abusive authority.
Excellent analysis of the GOP game plan of intimidation and coercion being perpetuated at all levels in America 🇺🇸
What's the difference between this and the strong arm tactics of Mussolini and Hitler 100 years ago? 🤔
Absolutely no difference that I can see!!
Now the latest thorn is presented by the judge in Texas outlawing the abortion pills from the rest of America 🇺🇸
That's like the most gerrymandered corrupt misinterpretation of how true laws are twisted by the power hungry party hell bent on dictating how the rest of America will live. All of us must hold their feet to the fire 🔥 of accountability and stop their suppression of the will of the majority of the people.
If that's not fascism, then I don't know what is!!
Vote 🗳 blue 🗳 💙 each and every election at every level even if it takes 50 years to make America 🇺🇸 right again!!
It looks to me like the goal of the rich fascists is to turn America into a failed third world nation, while the goal of the poor fascists, is to loot enslave, torture and kill, everyone they disapprove of or don't like.
Biden has definitely dropped the ball on defending America from fascism. Everyday he should be using his bully pulpit to point out it was the right wing that wanted free trade, trickle down, union busting illegal immigrants and legal immigrants, deficit spending, overpopulation and pollution. If anybody has a right to be vengeful, it would be the left, who opposed Reaganomics.
If Biden would fire Garland and prosecute about 206 Republican lawmakers for the insurrection, I would think positively of him. Instead he just acts guilty and offers no defense, making liberals look weak. Fascists like picking on the weak. Also Biden makes no attempt to stop illegal immigration of all races which further antagonizes the right wing racists.
Biden was raised in the Senate, which is a chamber that deals in compromises, give and takes,and has deified bipartisan ship. He is an example of why a senator should not be President, because what they learn is the opposite of what is needed to govern.
Biden was known as the Senator from Wall Street. Delaware, as Thom will tell you, won the Charter wars and as a consequence over 600 corporations, most of all the financial institutions, are chartered in Delaware, and of course they are the contributors to campaigns (that gives you perspective on the real loyalites of Senators Carper and Coons of Delaware,don't expect progressive populism, the runner up to Delaware was NJ, which explains the Senator from PhRMA (Menendez D - NJ)
Biden is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and is completely at the mercy of Larry Summers and other representatives of the oligarchy.
The only thing, as I see it, is which side each political party is on the culture war. The oligarchs, the plutocrats are in a win win position, regardless of who wins an election, they win. The last real choice we had was the Roosevelt cousins, Teddy and Franklin.
The last real choice we had was a left wing Populist, Bernie Sanders, but the DNC put their thumb on the scale, as did the "wise women"of South Carolina democrats,giving us a choice between a self serving, amoral, self aggrandizing Hillary Clinton and a right wing populist.
Thanks to Trump and the media, the word populist has been smeared.
There is populism of the left and populism of the right. America has never seen, until Bernie, any left wing populism, only the right wing populism of William Jennings Bryan, Father Coughlin, Huey Long and Donald John Trump. Bryans "cross of gold speech" was golden, however his social policies were fascist.
Before Garland is fired, note the following per Time magazine:
More than 1,000 people have been arrested for storming the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, with charges ranging from obstruction of an official proceeding to assault....
Around 42% of those arrested—420 individuals—have received criminal sentences, while the rest are waiting for their trials or haven’t yet reached plea agreements. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, 220 defendants were sentenced to periods of incarceration, with longer prison terms for those who engaged in violence or threats. So far, the median prison sentence for the Jan. 6 rioters is 60 days, according to TIME’s calculation of the public records. An additional 100 rioters have been sentenced to periods of home detention, while most sentences have included fines, community service and probation for low-level offenses like illegally parading or demonstrating in the Capitol, which is a misdemeanor.
Which only proves the case, Every one of those were treasonous felons, which should have been charged with felonies and given prison sentences of 20 years. The majority were charged with misdemeanors of trespass, and given virtual slaps on the wrist.
The DOJ is staffed by Trump humpers, lawyers and staff embedded by Trump by his EO 13957, which created Schedule F civil servants and enabled him to embed them in cabinet positions while reclassifying the positions of protected civil servants to at will, which he then replaced with his own appointees.
Biden foolishly revoked that EO with EO 14002, thus depriving himself of the opportunity to undo Trumps damage, leaving the DOJ and other agencies staffed by Trump humpers.
As regards Merrick Garland, he was vetted to Obama by the (then) most right wing of Senators (Orrin HatchR-UT) and served as a moderator (10 times) for the Federalist Society.
So a champion of democracy and liberalism he isn't.
Much of this may be true but it's not that relevant really and ignores the most important recent events, including those involving jack smith.
Most attorneys that have experience working with jack smith have said that garland picked the wrong special counsel for the documents case if he in fact had any desire to soft pedal or stonewall any investigations.
Look for example at Karen agnifilo's recent ny times piece and her previous comments on the appointment of smith, for the perspective of someone with high credentials discussing these cases and how they are being prosecuted.
Also note that the standard bearer for liberal democrats, the great Justice William Brennan - is listed as a "Contributor" to the federalist society, right on its website. It would seem that Fox News and Sarah Palin had more of a point when they harped on the fact that Obama once met with bill Ayers, than pointing out that garland moderated panels at the federalist society.
When someone is writing opinions as a federal judge for almost 25 years (and the chief judge of the most important court of appeals for 7) and there is nothing negative to be said about any opinions he wrote, then perhaps that's what really proves the case, rather than which panels he moderated in his spare time with his colleagues in the court system.
Apologetics is an art, it includes omissions and half truths.My retort is this.. The proof is in the pudding, and this is going on for over two years and nothing, absolutely nothing has been done about these traitors, (sedition is treason),either in Congress of the former administration, including the Trump humping DOJ, that helped him and is still occupying space in the department
I do not expect Garland and his Trump humping DOJ, to do anything. They certainly haven't to the J6 insurrectionists other than virtual wrist slap, correction the character that squashed the guards face with the door might (might) get 16 years. Not one was charged with sedition, not one.
Until then, seeing is believing. When Garland starts pressing charges against the likes of Hawley, not to mention Trump, he remains suspect.
Few, very few. The entire lot is guilty of and should be charged with sedition. Yet the Trump humpers in DOJ, charged the majority with misdeamors, and only the most egrious Oath Keepers have been charged and then only a handful.
For publicity sake they had to charge the most egregious few.
Again, seeing is believing. When Garland charges Trump, his staff, critters like Josh Hawley, and Lauren Boebert.
Boebert actually kicked off the attack on the Capitol. . It was captured on video, the moment it happened. When the Arizona election results were objected to, she typed on her phone 1776
Yet Garland has done nothing.
Same thing with the acting Sec of Defense, Chris Miller and Gen Charles Flynn (traitor Gen Michael Flynn's brother)
Miller was appointed days before Jan 6th, to play a role in the self coup, Gen Flynn was manning the desk where the phones rang off the hook, from the Capitol, asking for the National Guard to be released. He ignored the phones.
The National Guard were only released when Pence called the Secretary of the Army, who, incidentally, does not have the authority to release the Guard,on the Sec of Defense,
But Pence had heard "Hang Mike Pence" so he called acting Sec of the Army Ryan McCarthy.
Fortunately Gov Larry Hogan of MD, had already sent in the Quick Reaction Force of Maryland State Police, and it is they that actually cleared the insurrectionists from the Capitol.
However the corporate media has chosen not to provide that information, have they, Though it is well known in Congress and the administration.
They had to prosecute someone, so it was low level actors, not high level actors, or the men pulling the strings.
Apologize for Garland as you will, the evidence is stacked against him, by his actions and inactions.
Those that have the most $ and resources will do the most to delay and defend their cases, making it that much more important that the right evidence and testimony is gathered ...and these cases need to be prepared over time. Jack smith is aggressively pursuing them and garland is no longer directly involved - which is all good. The lack of arrests is not an indication of whether those cases are being prosecuted. All indications are that they are being prosecuted.
I would have liked those indications several years earlier also I would prefer about 206 of the rich be prosecuted and 10 of the poor. The poor are just victims of their own stupidity.
Of course, understood. There is a bottom line. It gets fuzzy because the legal system is complex and the more serious crimes (in this case, eg, conspiracy) are sometimes more complex cases than the misdemeanors. In trumps ny case it's also that way, as a misdemeanor crime (business records) becomes a felony due to an intention to commit additional crimes.
Another huge thing I don't see reported is that all law enforcement agencies and offices have ongoing legal programs in which certain risks are managed, including risks to the overall program. So eg an agency won't bring a case if the case could raise a certain issue which could (if adversely decided) have a disproportionately bad impact on other law enforcement strategies or positions.
And with the billionaires that finance the political leaders campaigns. At least 33% of the country are irredeemable, misogynistic,theocratic, racist fascists.
Wow! You left me in the dust in the first paragraph. That is an impressive recounting of the history and literature. Your grasp of that history and theory compares to Thom's phenomenal grasp and knowledge of more recent and primarily political history and theory. I had read some things about Chris Hedges and thought that he had somehow gone off the rails, but his book on War giving meaning and the one I referenced nevertheless seem still to be valid. And, Thom's point about revenge is right on the money. The Republicans are sadistic and cruel and the reasons for that will be debated for decades, at least.
Thom is there a way I can contribute to your show as well as Randi Rhodes without having any of my contribution going to DemocracyNow and Free Speech TV.
I regularly contributed to Free Speech TV, until I discovered that they, as well as the nation, were https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie. They and including the Nation, and sadly Matt Taibi, of whom I was once a fan, have exposed themselves as quasi fascists , along with Elon Musk,in support of that quasi theocratic, homophobic, misogynistic racist, fascist state of Russia, and I might as well include China.
China persecutes minorities the only one that we are aware of is the Uyghur’s. On the plus side China has debunked the notion that Capitalism and Communism are competing ideas. As Capitalism is an economic idea which thrives very well in China, and communism is a political idea which thrives very well in China and in fact has facilitated a remarkable forward leap of which America can only be jealous, building whole cities almost over night ,, while American infrastructure is decaying and has decayed, roads in disrepair, bridges falling down, and, because of political corruption and influence, homes and office buildings not built to standards.
Russia exposes the fascism of oligarchs. It is more pronounced and above board in Russia, whereas it is sublimal and hidden in America, with the oligarchs more plentiful and using the power of money to influence politics, from municipal to federal level. From city council to Congress and the Executive.
"Republicans in Tennessee, preening for the cameras and high on their own white privilege self-righteousness, got their revenge yesterday. They bullied and humiliated their Democratic colleagues who were acting on behalf of that state’s schoolchildren, and expelled two “uppity” Black members." But see, they didn't 'bully' or 'humiliate' the 2 Black members; certainly, the 2 Black members didn't feel 'bullied' or 'humiliated'. They treated their expulsion as a rallying cry - they were empowered by it. Which is good! I wouldn't give these creeps the credit of 'revenge' - they are just cowards. They can't even control themselves. All anger and rage is fear-based; these creeps are just cowards, in the end. The looks on those old, white, male creepy Tennessee legislators reminded me of the looks on the faces of the whites who attacked the Civil Rights marchers on the Pettis Bridge in Selma. And we know that John Lewis, amongst many others, became a national hero.
There were three protesters in the House, two black males and one white women. Only the black males were expelled, thus exposing the racism in Tennessee. This is a huge mistake on the part of the Republican party, because even old line Republicans and "libertarians" like those that you can read on the Bulwark, have noted that the Tennessee Republicans really screwed up, exposing the racism of the Republican party and making martyrs of the two black victims.
Was really nice to see a panel of 6 or 7 dimwits on msnbc provide all-day coverage of the "indictment of Donald trump," especially when what was happening that day was his arraignment, and also especially since they had not yet seen the indictment. Nothing like all-day coverage of an indictment in which we got to see doors and guards standing around for hours. Somehow, I missed a chance to see a black limo driving and parking.
It's not like there is any news to report, if they have a chance to sit there in their fancy clothes and show pictures of trump all day, when at the same time hedge fund superstars like Barry sternlicht dominate the coverage on msnbc's sister station, cnbc, which constantly tells everyone that regulating fossil fuels or raising taxes on billionaires are bad ideas.
This was almost as lovely as seeing mild mannered reporter, Pete Williams on MSNBC a couple of years ago, talking about alito's decision in the brynovich yea case in which MSNBC did a whole splash screen, explaining how some of these az restrictions have been in place already, and the fact that Arizona is imposin All kinds of new voting restrictions was really "no big deal." After all when the Supreme Court rules that voting is no longer a fundamental right in this country after a long line of supreme court case had held that it was, what is the big deal? it's not like voting matters to anyone. What does anybody care about this stuff? It's not products like crypto and it's not consumer values. So it really doesn't belong in news coverage or in anyone's minds, according to the well-dressed pundits.
Recommend John Stewart's video on the epic fail of MSNBC in covering Trump's indictment, especially Chis Hayes, what a dweeb. He keeps falling in my estimation to point that I won't watch him anymore. , like all commentators inside the beltway he knows where his bread is buttered.
I recall Thom talking about his reception when he moved to D.C. he was invited to lunches and when they discovered that he had principles and wasn't for sale, they lost interest and turned their back on him.
I also enjoy Jenn psaki but only because her p is silent and her clothes are green.
One of the things they all missed about the indictment was that pecker was dumb enough to front the $ the first time. Didn't they read that trump stiffed a pecker?????
Chris Hayes is so smart because not only does he wear glasses and looks like a preppy, but also because Ezra Klein has a huge podcast and Ezra Klein says that Chris Hayes is brilliant!
My wife is addicted to MSNBC, I don't bother watching TV news. I get the news in my inbox from trusted mostly liberal sources, including (strangely) the never Trumper Bulwark.
MSNBC's business model is to capture the anti Fox viewer, and all of their hosts, do nothing but regurgitate the same three subjects ad nauseum. Over and over. The best of the lot is Joy Reid, at least she calls out the malefactors, and raises questions about the honesty and efficacy of DOJ and the Biden administration. MSNBC has a low tolerance for those who deviate from their business model, which includes not exposing the lies and influence of their advertisers, who are also major donors to Democras and Republicans.
Tiffany Cross and Keith Olbermann found out the hard way, both were fired for making unapproved statements. Chris Matthews as fired (with my total approval, for he as a narcissistic bloviater) , butnot for comments but for sexual harassment. M Fer's ego was out of bounds.
I forget exactly what the Tiffany Cross OFF DUTY statement was, but always wondered, it had to be more, surely. I adored "not suffering fools" Olbermann. But what gets my goat is Scarborough as a big star. I remember him chiming right in with Tucker boosting the Iraq invasion, when MSNBC dumpstered Phil Donahue, and I don't know that he has ever apologized or expressed regrets, if he has, please flag me somebody?
Oh well, at least today I did get my email updates from Washington Post and was glad to see the following summary of some of the REAL news. Yes here it is right off the presses of the newsroom:
"The “Barbie” trailer is making people feel like they’re in a fever dream.
Why? The clip has a crazy cast of stars and pairs a sense of humor with some jarringly dark plot hints. It has received a huge response since it was released earlier this week.
When is it out? July 21. The movie, about the iconic toy setting out to discover the human world, stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling."
State Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson should be offered the opportunity to speak in every venue. I hope Thom decides to give them a platform.
They could tell their stories along the way and transform their political careers along with Tennessee's future. The youth in that state need these two role models to keep advocating for gun control, human rights, and reproductive choice (very strict law was passed 8/25/22).
I hope they make the most of it. I hope they write a book. I hope they become candidates for higher office. Let's cheer them on and help them get a little revenge of their own. Almost everything nasty vengeful thing the Republicans do can be turned back on them. The two Justins are on their way to visit the White House---help make them golden.
The appeal of fascism to those considering themselves to be part of the elite ruling class is nothing new. People including King Edward VIII, Lyloyd George, Winston Churchill, John Maynard Keynes, and George Bernard Shaw, all thought applauded Mussolini and Adolph Hitler who provided strong control over the workers. As with the meeting of the 25 wealthiest men in Germany who provided financial support to the Nazi party and its leaders were told by Hitler - you will be the father of your own house. To this end the Nazi under Hitler quickly moved to ban all unions in Germany.
People who organized workers so that they could collectively bargain with factory owners were labeled as anarchists or terrorists and the term "communist" came to take on this meaning as well. It was OK for socialist fascism to rule countries as in this context the social welfare of the elites was enforced by government, as it is in the United States today. Public lands and airwaves are gifted to the elites and bailouts in the billions and even trillions of dollars are considered proper but not for the workers and their families.
The attack on the workers began in 1947 when both political parties pushed through the anti-union Taft Hartley Act. The Reagan Revolution was nothing more than an attack on unions by encouraging corporations to move their manufacturing operations out of the United States. Now we have most manufacturing for U.S. corporations occuring in communist China and in communist Vietnam (largest Intel chip fab outside the USA).
The pitch of high levels of hatred is poisoning our country.
Some of this , I believe is arranged for intimidation and chaos , causing more fear and distrust criss crossing the country.
The GOP game is generally distract and proceed with any number of biased attacks against anyone who cares about the general public.
As regards ‘people who are different’ , there is a full on march to destroy their privacy and their civil rights.
Only certain wealthy white folks are allowed to pursue their dreams through political and economic means.
Thats the GOP mission to make the wealthy wealthier , to distract and destroy minorities, and to live by disturbing fantasy
Of absolute power and victimhood . The alleged White Christian stalwart
Population lives to look down on , and inhibit any heathy political discourse , spreading their noxious lies.
Donald Trump continues his putrid rants about his make believe victimhood that sets his followers to buy his hatred and plans to retaliate for his imagined atrocities against his special criminal self.
Many presumably intelligent people told me that between Hillary and Trump they had little choice and might just vote for trump (in 2016). Lots of negatives can be lodged at Hillary, biden, garland etc. but Chomsky is not kidding when he states that gop is perhaps the most dangerous organization in the history of mankind.
The rule of law is not a partisan issue - Ralph Nader has spoken about how someone like Robert Taft, a top conservative member of the House throughout the 50s, would never allow anyone to ignore a congressional subpoena. The rule of law is at grave risk today, and I'm not a huge fan of any mainstream democrats either but I have to keep in mind that every time one of us stays home on Election Day, it's almost as good for gop as when we vote for republicans. So much of their strategy is to get us to dislike our own and stay home.
I remember some people in 2016 calling in to shows like Thom's saying not much difference either way and not much will change either way with trump or Hillary.
This is no longer a legitimate position unless one takes the media dopamine - the constant attempt to distract and bamboozled people is hard to resist and fight against.
And why not take a look at the latest revelations about Trump’s campaign in 2016 with Israeli agents? The news has been out for weeks. Check out Henwood’s recent “Behind the News” podcast.
No it is Patreon. I found it with google, also Thom's site, however the only option is to sign up for monthly contributions, which means automatic deductions, and I don't do those, I want control over my bank account, and automatic deductions take away that control, one of the reasons I don't sign up for streaming services. I will let Thom know and see if they have a place for one time contributions.
I support my local animal shelter with monthly contributions that I make,not an automatic
We should never lose sight of the fact that many of these people with fascist tendencies sincerely believe that they are acting at the direction of or on behalf of "the Lord" or God, and have forgotten that their lord said clearly that "vengeance is mine". They have no compunction about being the agent of punishment and violence because they imagine they are following scripture or god's will. The Constitution and "man's rules" or laws are secondary or irrelevant in their little minds. We are up against much more than just a bunch of testosterone-fueled egotists and power-hungry politicians. Religious fanaticism and fascism are the consequence of ignorance, fear, and insularity. Politics and law enforcement will have no effect on them.
These Christian fasciss are solipsists. They are the god that they believe in. When their bible says Vengeance is mine, they see themselves as god. They cut and paste their holy book, selecting the verses that fulfill their needs and assuage their fears, thus they ignore Matthew 25, but assiduously read Luke 19:27 )Bring those who would not have me reign over them and slaughter them,Or Luke 22: 36-38, sell your cloak and buy a sword.
Same thing with Leviticus, over 300 commandments (Leviticus means book of laws), they ignore and discard most that are inconvenient, like wearing clothing of mixed fabric, prohibition of eating shellfish, but cleave to those that reinforce the supremacy of the patriarchy.
For themtheir holy book is simply a tool, which they use as an appeal to a higher authority, to justify the policies and actions that will fulfill their needs and assuage their fears.
It is the same with their god, they use it as a sock puppet for the same reason.
William,
The sock puppet image is great. I’ll have to remember that one. So true. There is something in the Bible to justify just about any position anyone wishes to take. How the writing of so many authors got selected to ostensibly represent the “word of God” is beyond me. You appear to know much more about the content than I do or than most people do. I grew up in an evangelical Baptist family with preachers, evangelists, missionaries, ministers, etc., but abandoned the whole mythology in my early twenties. They are for the most part good people but fascist thinking and ideology has infiltrated many of the churches and schools now and the people who have a strong desire to play god and to use religion to dominate others have risen to the top in many places. Fox Noise is their church.
I pulled a few books from my shelf that you may already be familiar with or you may want to check out. One is, “Jesus: What He Really Said & did” by Stephen Mitchell. One for believers is “The Great Awakening” by Jim Wallis. Another one you probably know is “American Fascists” by Chris Hedges. “The End of Faith” by Sam Harris is for real skeptics, as I recall. The last I found in doing a quick scan was “The Age of American Unreason” by Susan Jacoby. Hers is less about religious influence I believe, but I’m sure she explains a lot about its relationship to the right-wing political landscape.
Other than speaking truth to power and spreading the truth whenever possible, I’m not sure what ordinary people can do. My mission is to show how this garbage has crept into schools and how it is validated there because of how it parallels the subtle and frequently not-so-subtle philosophy of children in need of stern discipline so they can concentrate on their studies (60% behavior modification and right-wing propaganda promoting obedience), the strict father metaphor, and the sick theory of original sin. The open invitation to these things is the compulsory attendance law which requires arbitrary authority and an authoritarian bureaucracy.
RBE
I read the bible front to cover at age 12. I was an avid reader. First book I read, was checked out from the project library at age 8, the Odyssey. Gives you an idea of where I was. I was fortunate to have read the Bible by myself, and not guided by some Bible class, which selects passages for you to study. However I read the whole thing and at age 12, picked up on the siliness , contradictions and genocide that Yahweh not only condoned but ordered I was horrified. Read it again front to cover post Vietnam, and have browsed through it countless times, in referencing parts which I have replied to on the internet forums .
As regards my knowledge of Judaism and Christianity, I am a avocational historian, and availed myself of literature, that you won't find in the public library, or in a Christian book shop, certainly not in a Vatican source. Mainly because they are centuries old, like Anacalypsis: Drawing aside the Saitic Veil, by Godfrey Higgins two thick volumes of fine,foot note like print. And the hidden history of Christianity, starting with the symbol that Constantine painted on the shields of his soldiers at the battle of the Milivan bridge (the Chi Rho, not the cross, which was the signet of the fierce warrior goddess Astarte. A great example of pyschological warfare for it struck fear in the hearts of the oppposing army.
He never converted, not even on his death bed as the Catholic church proclaims. he made Christianity the state religion, because it is easier to control one priesthood, than the hundreds that Rome endured. Also he needed to quiet the uproar on Roman streets and markets, as there were hundreds of "apostles" preaching their own version in the markets and the din must have been horrendous
He gathered up the most influental (influencers) and sequestered them under guard in far off Anatolia (Nicea), plied them with wine and boys, and told them that they couldn't come out until they arrived at a consensus and a uniform doctrine.
There were bloody fights, and the Trinitarians won the day,and that became Catholic Dogma.An ything else became heresy, resulting in the Albegensian crusade and the Crusade against the Wendts of the Baltic (which were pagans). The Albegensian crusade3 resulted in the death of millions of Cathars, gnostics who believed that Jesus was a mortal and not part of a Trinity, in Southern France. There was also persecution of the Arians, and before all of that, Pope Leo "The Great" was tossing Manicheans to the lions with all of the glee formerly reserved for Christians.
Mani was a Greek prophet who preached a Greek form of Zoroastrianism.
A Manichean priest, whom the Catholic church named of the greatest (Augustine) saw what was happening to Manicheans and converted to Christianity and became an ardent Christian, influencing Catholic doctrine and literature, which he was able to skillfully Manicheanized
Examples, neither the Jews nor early Christians had any concept of a good god vs an evil god, that was pure Zorastrianism Ahura Mazda vs Ahriman, nor heaven or hell. Augustine imported the planet Venus in her role as Lucifer, the bringer of light, the morning star, as the bad god, also given the name Satan.. A light bringer is also an enlightener, a purveyor of knowledge and advocate of critical thinking, which was and is inimical to doctrinaire religion. The believer is suppose to rely on and accept without questioning the interpretations, interpolations, mutterings and mutterings of religious authorities. To be a good Jew, Christian, Muslim one must be a mental child, with no thoughts of their own, no critical reasoning skills, to accept without question all interpretations and utterings of their betters.
The old testament was hashed together from tales that the learned elite of the peoples, then known as JAATS, had access to in the library of Babylon, where they worked as attendants and librarians. These were the tales of the Sumerians, passed on the Akkadians, ending up in the hands of the Babylonians, as well as a co option of the various Gods and hero's which were prominent in the Levant at the time. Solomon was the wise fish god of Assyria mixed with the historical tales of two or more kings of Syria.
Solomon's father David was made of fragments of the Storm god (Uru) and the pig god (NINIP
with some history added, the history however belonged to Syria not Judah.
Genesis is a;; too obvious, an adaptation of Sumerian sources like the Epic of Gilgamesh,of which the creators of the tribal religion put their own spin on. Noah means rest or repose and the hero of the flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh is Utnapishtim, whose name means day of life or life day, and is synonymous with repose or rest.
The other books were written 500 to a 1000 years after the events they were suppose to be recording, and Deuteronomy, which is Leviticus in narrative form, was written 1,000 years after the so called Exodus.
The Exodus of which no mention exists in the Egyptian writings, happened during the reign of Rameses III, not Rameses II. And it was not as we are told, freedom from slavery, the people the Egyptians called the Habiru (cuthroat or thief) were expellled from Egypt and there was no Egyptian army chasing them, no parting of the red sea. But one does not create a tribal myth with we were expelled from Egypt. By the time Ferdinand and Isabella and Edward I expelled them from Spain and England, literacy, the spread of education and books inhibited a repetition of "let me people go".
I have discerned, primarily because of the similarity of words in Pashtun and Hebrew (in fact there was a place in Pakistan called Talmud), the the Hebrew came from the Indus Valley and were merchants, camel drivers, consequently settling in at commercial centers like Babylon and Tyre.
When Cyrus the great, whom they called messiah, besieged Babylon, unwilling to die for a foreign king, they negotiated their deal with Cyrus, opened the gates, and for that he rewarded them with Uru Salem, (Jerusalem). Actually I would do the same. Why give up your life for a king and peoples with whom you have no connection or loyalty.
As regards the authors you mention. I was a fan of Chris Hedges, until he came out as a Putinite, a Russo phille, just one of the many on the left, that are so ideologically opposed to colonialism and imperialism that they reflexively side with the other side, even though Russia is a quasi theocratic, misogynistic, homophobic, racist, oligarchic state, that persecutres,, murders or jails journalists, dissenters.
I am familar with the Great Awakening, there were actually two, one in the post revolutionnary war south in the 18th and another in the 19th Century, both were launched by New England religious fanatics, who preached essentially the puritan version of the gospel. Thus cults like the Southern Baptists are teaching Puritan versions of protestantism,
We can legitimately blame the culture war, which pervades the south and the midwest, on their adaptation of the Puritans beliefs and doctrine.
The intolerant and self righteous Puritans are behind the current culture war
Independent thinking is hard. Turning over all the decision-making to someone else is such a relief. Erich Fromm had a book: "Escape from Freedom" On the cover it says: "Freedom can be frightening; Totalitarianism can be tempting...." 1941
I'm trying to remember when I read Fromm's great book. It had to be in the late sixties or early seventies. I believe it was an important foundation, along with "Animal House" and "1984" that stimulated my thinking relative to compulsory schooling. It is such a short leap from being conditioned to rely on others to "teach" and mold your beliefs and to "correct" you when you are too willful or autonomous to just accepting the power that authorities exert over you and going with the flow. Bad religion is where it all comes from, I believe. Vengeance is too often about blaming the victim and rebelling against someone or some group in lieu of rebelling against the abusive authority.
Excellent analysis of the GOP game plan of intimidation and coercion being perpetuated at all levels in America 🇺🇸
What's the difference between this and the strong arm tactics of Mussolini and Hitler 100 years ago? 🤔
Absolutely no difference that I can see!!
Now the latest thorn is presented by the judge in Texas outlawing the abortion pills from the rest of America 🇺🇸
That's like the most gerrymandered corrupt misinterpretation of how true laws are twisted by the power hungry party hell bent on dictating how the rest of America will live. All of us must hold their feet to the fire 🔥 of accountability and stop their suppression of the will of the majority of the people.
If that's not fascism, then I don't know what is!!
Vote 🗳 blue 🗳 💙 each and every election at every level even if it takes 50 years to make America 🇺🇸 right again!!
Hopefully not, but it must be done regardless!!
It looks to me like the goal of the rich fascists is to turn America into a failed third world nation, while the goal of the poor fascists, is to loot enslave, torture and kill, everyone they disapprove of or don't like.
Biden has definitely dropped the ball on defending America from fascism. Everyday he should be using his bully pulpit to point out it was the right wing that wanted free trade, trickle down, union busting illegal immigrants and legal immigrants, deficit spending, overpopulation and pollution. If anybody has a right to be vengeful, it would be the left, who opposed Reaganomics.
If Biden would fire Garland and prosecute about 206 Republican lawmakers for the insurrection, I would think positively of him. Instead he just acts guilty and offers no defense, making liberals look weak. Fascists like picking on the weak. Also Biden makes no attempt to stop illegal immigration of all races which further antagonizes the right wing racists.
Biden was raised in the Senate, which is a chamber that deals in compromises, give and takes,and has deified bipartisan ship. He is an example of why a senator should not be President, because what they learn is the opposite of what is needed to govern.
Biden was known as the Senator from Wall Street. Delaware, as Thom will tell you, won the Charter wars and as a consequence over 600 corporations, most of all the financial institutions, are chartered in Delaware, and of course they are the contributors to campaigns (that gives you perspective on the real loyalites of Senators Carper and Coons of Delaware,don't expect progressive populism, the runner up to Delaware was NJ, which explains the Senator from PhRMA (Menendez D - NJ)
Biden is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and is completely at the mercy of Larry Summers and other representatives of the oligarchy.
The only thing, as I see it, is which side each political party is on the culture war. The oligarchs, the plutocrats are in a win win position, regardless of who wins an election, they win. The last real choice we had was the Roosevelt cousins, Teddy and Franklin.
The last real choice we had was a left wing Populist, Bernie Sanders, but the DNC put their thumb on the scale, as did the "wise women"of South Carolina democrats,giving us a choice between a self serving, amoral, self aggrandizing Hillary Clinton and a right wing populist.
Thanks to Trump and the media, the word populist has been smeared.
There is populism of the left and populism of the right. America has never seen, until Bernie, any left wing populism, only the right wing populism of William Jennings Bryan, Father Coughlin, Huey Long and Donald John Trump. Bryans "cross of gold speech" was golden, however his social policies were fascist.
Before Garland is fired, note the following per Time magazine:
More than 1,000 people have been arrested for storming the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, with charges ranging from obstruction of an official proceeding to assault....
Around 42% of those arrested—420 individuals—have received criminal sentences, while the rest are waiting for their trials or haven’t yet reached plea agreements. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, 220 defendants were sentenced to periods of incarceration, with longer prison terms for those who engaged in violence or threats. So far, the median prison sentence for the Jan. 6 rioters is 60 days, according to TIME’s calculation of the public records. An additional 100 rioters have been sentenced to periods of home detention, while most sentences have included fines, community service and probation for low-level offenses like illegally parading or demonstrating in the Capitol, which is a misdemeanor.
Which only proves the case, Every one of those were treasonous felons, which should have been charged with felonies and given prison sentences of 20 years. The majority were charged with misdemeanors of trespass, and given virtual slaps on the wrist.
The DOJ is staffed by Trump humpers, lawyers and staff embedded by Trump by his EO 13957, which created Schedule F civil servants and enabled him to embed them in cabinet positions while reclassifying the positions of protected civil servants to at will, which he then replaced with his own appointees.
Biden foolishly revoked that EO with EO 14002, thus depriving himself of the opportunity to undo Trumps damage, leaving the DOJ and other agencies staffed by Trump humpers.
As regards Merrick Garland, he was vetted to Obama by the (then) most right wing of Senators (Orrin HatchR-UT) and served as a moderator (10 times) for the Federalist Society.
So a champion of democracy and liberalism he isn't.
Much of this may be true but it's not that relevant really and ignores the most important recent events, including those involving jack smith.
Most attorneys that have experience working with jack smith have said that garland picked the wrong special counsel for the documents case if he in fact had any desire to soft pedal or stonewall any investigations.
Look for example at Karen agnifilo's recent ny times piece and her previous comments on the appointment of smith, for the perspective of someone with high credentials discussing these cases and how they are being prosecuted.
Also note that the standard bearer for liberal democrats, the great Justice William Brennan - is listed as a "Contributor" to the federalist society, right on its website. It would seem that Fox News and Sarah Palin had more of a point when they harped on the fact that Obama once met with bill Ayers, than pointing out that garland moderated panels at the federalist society.
When someone is writing opinions as a federal judge for almost 25 years (and the chief judge of the most important court of appeals for 7) and there is nothing negative to be said about any opinions he wrote, then perhaps that's what really proves the case, rather than which panels he moderated in his spare time with his colleagues in the court system.
Apologetics is an art, it includes omissions and half truths.My retort is this.. The proof is in the pudding, and this is going on for over two years and nothing, absolutely nothing has been done about these traitors, (sedition is treason),either in Congress of the former administration, including the Trump humping DOJ, that helped him and is still occupying space in the department
I do not expect Garland and his Trump humping DOJ, to do anything. They certainly haven't to the J6 insurrectionists other than virtual wrist slap, correction the character that squashed the guards face with the door might (might) get 16 years. Not one was charged with sedition, not one.
Until then, seeing is believing. When Garland starts pressing charges against the likes of Hawley, not to mention Trump, he remains suspect.
Not only has sedition been charged in numerous cases but high profile convictions have been secured.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/founder-of-oath-keepers-charged-with-seditious-conspiracy
https://www.newsweek.com/what-sedition-four-more-oath-keepers-convicted-january-6-attack-1775942
Few, very few. The entire lot is guilty of and should be charged with sedition. Yet the Trump humpers in DOJ, charged the majority with misdeamors, and only the most egrious Oath Keepers have been charged and then only a handful.
For publicity sake they had to charge the most egregious few.
Again, seeing is believing. When Garland charges Trump, his staff, critters like Josh Hawley, and Lauren Boebert.
Boebert actually kicked off the attack on the Capitol. . It was captured on video, the moment it happened. When the Arizona election results were objected to, she typed on her phone 1776
Yet Garland has done nothing.
Same thing with the acting Sec of Defense, Chris Miller and Gen Charles Flynn (traitor Gen Michael Flynn's brother)
Miller was appointed days before Jan 6th, to play a role in the self coup, Gen Flynn was manning the desk where the phones rang off the hook, from the Capitol, asking for the National Guard to be released. He ignored the phones.
The National Guard were only released when Pence called the Secretary of the Army, who, incidentally, does not have the authority to release the Guard,on the Sec of Defense,
But Pence had heard "Hang Mike Pence" so he called acting Sec of the Army Ryan McCarthy.
Fortunately Gov Larry Hogan of MD, had already sent in the Quick Reaction Force of Maryland State Police, and it is they that actually cleared the insurrectionists from the Capitol.
However the corporate media has chosen not to provide that information, have they, Though it is well known in Congress and the administration.
They had to prosecute someone, so it was low level actors, not high level actors, or the men pulling the strings.
Apologize for Garland as you will, the evidence is stacked against him, by his actions and inactions.
Don't you see something wrong there? About 1,000 poor fascists arrested and zero rich fascists arrested?
Those that have the most $ and resources will do the most to delay and defend their cases, making it that much more important that the right evidence and testimony is gathered ...and these cases need to be prepared over time. Jack smith is aggressively pursuing them and garland is no longer directly involved - which is all good. The lack of arrests is not an indication of whether those cases are being prosecuted. All indications are that they are being prosecuted.
I would have liked those indications several years earlier also I would prefer about 206 of the rich be prosecuted and 10 of the poor. The poor are just victims of their own stupidity.
Of course, understood. There is a bottom line. It gets fuzzy because the legal system is complex and the more serious crimes (in this case, eg, conspiracy) are sometimes more complex cases than the misdemeanors. In trumps ny case it's also that way, as a misdemeanor crime (business records) becomes a felony due to an intention to commit additional crimes.
Another huge thing I don't see reported is that all law enforcement agencies and offices have ongoing legal programs in which certain risks are managed, including risks to the overall program. So eg an agency won't bring a case if the case could raise a certain issue which could (if adversely decided) have a disproportionately bad impact on other law enforcement strategies or positions.
The problem lies not with their political “leaders”, but with the voters who keep electing them.
And with the billionaires that finance the political leaders campaigns. At least 33% of the country are irredeemable, misogynistic,theocratic, racist fascists.
Wow! You left me in the dust in the first paragraph. That is an impressive recounting of the history and literature. Your grasp of that history and theory compares to Thom's phenomenal grasp and knowledge of more recent and primarily political history and theory. I had read some things about Chris Hedges and thought that he had somehow gone off the rails, but his book on War giving meaning and the one I referenced nevertheless seem still to be valid. And, Thom's point about revenge is right on the money. The Republicans are sadistic and cruel and the reasons for that will be debated for decades, at least.
Thom is there a way I can contribute to your show as well as Randi Rhodes without having any of my contribution going to DemocracyNow and Free Speech TV.
I regularly contributed to Free Speech TV, until I discovered that they, as well as the nation, were https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie. They and including the Nation, and sadly Matt Taibi, of whom I was once a fan, have exposed themselves as quasi fascists , along with Elon Musk,in support of that quasi theocratic, homophobic, misogynistic racist, fascist state of Russia, and I might as well include China.
China persecutes minorities the only one that we are aware of is the Uyghur’s. On the plus side China has debunked the notion that Capitalism and Communism are competing ideas. As Capitalism is an economic idea which thrives very well in China, and communism is a political idea which thrives very well in China and in fact has facilitated a remarkable forward leap of which America can only be jealous, building whole cities almost over night ,, while American infrastructure is decaying and has decayed, roads in disrepair, bridges falling down, and, because of political corruption and influence, homes and office buildings not built to standards.
Russia exposes the fascism of oligarchs. It is more pronounced and above board in Russia, whereas it is sublimal and hidden in America, with the oligarchs more plentiful and using the power of money to influence politics, from municipal to federal level. From city council to Congress and the Executive.
We have a patreon page, or you can upgrade here to the $150 level of membership. Beyond that, I'm not sure... Don't know about Randi.
Link please to your patreon page.
I'll bet that's "Patron."
"Republicans in Tennessee, preening for the cameras and high on their own white privilege self-righteousness, got their revenge yesterday. They bullied and humiliated their Democratic colleagues who were acting on behalf of that state’s schoolchildren, and expelled two “uppity” Black members." But see, they didn't 'bully' or 'humiliate' the 2 Black members; certainly, the 2 Black members didn't feel 'bullied' or 'humiliated'. They treated their expulsion as a rallying cry - they were empowered by it. Which is good! I wouldn't give these creeps the credit of 'revenge' - they are just cowards. They can't even control themselves. All anger and rage is fear-based; these creeps are just cowards, in the end. The looks on those old, white, male creepy Tennessee legislators reminded me of the looks on the faces of the whites who attacked the Civil Rights marchers on the Pettis Bridge in Selma. And we know that John Lewis, amongst many others, became a national hero.
There were three protesters in the House, two black males and one white women. Only the black males were expelled, thus exposing the racism in Tennessee. This is a huge mistake on the part of the Republican party, because even old line Republicans and "libertarians" like those that you can read on the Bulwark, have noted that the Tennessee Republicans really screwed up, exposing the racism of the Republican party and making martyrs of the two black victims.
We keep thinking: surely they have gone too far this time! But....
Was really nice to see a panel of 6 or 7 dimwits on msnbc provide all-day coverage of the "indictment of Donald trump," especially when what was happening that day was his arraignment, and also especially since they had not yet seen the indictment. Nothing like all-day coverage of an indictment in which we got to see doors and guards standing around for hours. Somehow, I missed a chance to see a black limo driving and parking.
It's not like there is any news to report, if they have a chance to sit there in their fancy clothes and show pictures of trump all day, when at the same time hedge fund superstars like Barry sternlicht dominate the coverage on msnbc's sister station, cnbc, which constantly tells everyone that regulating fossil fuels or raising taxes on billionaires are bad ideas.
This was almost as lovely as seeing mild mannered reporter, Pete Williams on MSNBC a couple of years ago, talking about alito's decision in the brynovich yea case in which MSNBC did a whole splash screen, explaining how some of these az restrictions have been in place already, and the fact that Arizona is imposin All kinds of new voting restrictions was really "no big deal." After all when the Supreme Court rules that voting is no longer a fundamental right in this country after a long line of supreme court case had held that it was, what is the big deal? it's not like voting matters to anyone. What does anybody care about this stuff? It's not products like crypto and it's not consumer values. So it really doesn't belong in news coverage or in anyone's minds, according to the well-dressed pundits.
Recommend John Stewart's video on the epic fail of MSNBC in covering Trump's indictment, especially Chis Hayes, what a dweeb. He keeps falling in my estimation to point that I won't watch him anymore. , like all commentators inside the beltway he knows where his bread is buttered.
https://youtu.be/A3C6_xE_e0I?t=156
I recall Thom talking about his reception when he moved to D.C. he was invited to lunches and when they discovered that he had principles and wasn't for sale, they lost interest and turned their back on him.
I also enjoy Jenn psaki but only because her p is silent and her clothes are green.
One of the things they all missed about the indictment was that pecker was dumb enough to front the $ the first time. Didn't they read that trump stiffed a pecker?????
Chris Hayes is so smart because not only does he wear glasses and looks like a preppy, but also because Ezra Klein has a huge podcast and Ezra Klein says that Chris Hayes is brilliant!
My wife is addicted to MSNBC, I don't bother watching TV news. I get the news in my inbox from trusted mostly liberal sources, including (strangely) the never Trumper Bulwark.
MSNBC's business model is to capture the anti Fox viewer, and all of their hosts, do nothing but regurgitate the same three subjects ad nauseum. Over and over. The best of the lot is Joy Reid, at least she calls out the malefactors, and raises questions about the honesty and efficacy of DOJ and the Biden administration. MSNBC has a low tolerance for those who deviate from their business model, which includes not exposing the lies and influence of their advertisers, who are also major donors to Democras and Republicans.
Tiffany Cross and Keith Olbermann found out the hard way, both were fired for making unapproved statements. Chris Matthews as fired (with my total approval, for he as a narcissistic bloviater) , butnot for comments but for sexual harassment. M Fer's ego was out of bounds.
I forget exactly what the Tiffany Cross OFF DUTY statement was, but always wondered, it had to be more, surely. I adored "not suffering fools" Olbermann. But what gets my goat is Scarborough as a big star. I remember him chiming right in with Tucker boosting the Iraq invasion, when MSNBC dumpstered Phil Donahue, and I don't know that he has ever apologized or expressed regrets, if he has, please flag me somebody?
Oh well, at least today I did get my email updates from Washington Post and was glad to see the following summary of some of the REAL news. Yes here it is right off the presses of the newsroom:
"The “Barbie” trailer is making people feel like they’re in a fever dream.
Why? The clip has a crazy cast of stars and pairs a sense of humor with some jarringly dark plot hints. It has received a huge response since it was released earlier this week.
When is it out? July 21. The movie, about the iconic toy setting out to discover the human world, stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling."
Thanks for the reality check!:)
Two can play....
State Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson should be offered the opportunity to speak in every venue. I hope Thom decides to give them a platform.
They could tell their stories along the way and transform their political careers along with Tennessee's future. The youth in that state need these two role models to keep advocating for gun control, human rights, and reproductive choice (very strict law was passed 8/25/22).
I hope they make the most of it. I hope they write a book. I hope they become candidates for higher office. Let's cheer them on and help them get a little revenge of their own. Almost everything nasty vengeful thing the Republicans do can be turned back on them. The two Justins are on their way to visit the White House---help make them golden.
The appeal of fascism to those considering themselves to be part of the elite ruling class is nothing new. People including King Edward VIII, Lyloyd George, Winston Churchill, John Maynard Keynes, and George Bernard Shaw, all thought applauded Mussolini and Adolph Hitler who provided strong control over the workers. As with the meeting of the 25 wealthiest men in Germany who provided financial support to the Nazi party and its leaders were told by Hitler - you will be the father of your own house. To this end the Nazi under Hitler quickly moved to ban all unions in Germany.
People who organized workers so that they could collectively bargain with factory owners were labeled as anarchists or terrorists and the term "communist" came to take on this meaning as well. It was OK for socialist fascism to rule countries as in this context the social welfare of the elites was enforced by government, as it is in the United States today. Public lands and airwaves are gifted to the elites and bailouts in the billions and even trillions of dollars are considered proper but not for the workers and their families.
The attack on the workers began in 1947 when both political parties pushed through the anti-union Taft Hartley Act. The Reagan Revolution was nothing more than an attack on unions by encouraging corporations to move their manufacturing operations out of the United States. Now we have most manufacturing for U.S. corporations occuring in communist China and in communist Vietnam (largest Intel chip fab outside the USA).
The pitch of high levels of hatred is poisoning our country.
Some of this , I believe is arranged for intimidation and chaos , causing more fear and distrust criss crossing the country.
The GOP game is generally distract and proceed with any number of biased attacks against anyone who cares about the general public.
As regards ‘people who are different’ , there is a full on march to destroy their privacy and their civil rights.
Only certain wealthy white folks are allowed to pursue their dreams through political and economic means.
Thats the GOP mission to make the wealthy wealthier , to distract and destroy minorities, and to live by disturbing fantasy
Of absolute power and victimhood . The alleged White Christian stalwart
Population lives to look down on , and inhibit any heathy political discourse , spreading their noxious lies.
Donald Trump continues his putrid rants about his make believe victimhood that sets his followers to buy his hatred and plans to retaliate for his imagined atrocities against his special criminal self.
Stay tuned, we will see what happens. It's looking better each day!
Many presumably intelligent people told me that between Hillary and Trump they had little choice and might just vote for trump (in 2016). Lots of negatives can be lodged at Hillary, biden, garland etc. but Chomsky is not kidding when he states that gop is perhaps the most dangerous organization in the history of mankind.
The rule of law is not a partisan issue - Ralph Nader has spoken about how someone like Robert Taft, a top conservative member of the House throughout the 50s, would never allow anyone to ignore a congressional subpoena. The rule of law is at grave risk today, and I'm not a huge fan of any mainstream democrats either but I have to keep in mind that every time one of us stays home on Election Day, it's almost as good for gop as when we vote for republicans. So much of their strategy is to get us to dislike our own and stay home.
I remember some people in 2016 calling in to shows like Thom's saying not much difference either way and not much will change either way with trump or Hillary.
This is no longer a legitimate position unless one takes the media dopamine - the constant attempt to distract and bamboozled people is hard to resist and fight against.
And why not take a look at the latest revelations about Trump’s campaign in 2016 with Israeli agents? The news has been out for weeks. Check out Henwood’s recent “Behind the News” podcast.
No it is Patreon. I found it with google, also Thom's site, however the only option is to sign up for monthly contributions, which means automatic deductions, and I don't do those, I want control over my bank account, and automatic deductions take away that control, one of the reasons I don't sign up for streaming services. I will let Thom know and see if they have a place for one time contributions.
I support my local animal shelter with monthly contributions that I make,not an automatic