If we continue to allow violence (like January 6th) and violent rhetoric to spread through the American body politic, we stand a very real chance of losing our republic
Great article except, where are the Dems in defending Jack Smith and attacking Trump and his co-conspirators? Trump and the rest are all over the airwaves lying. This is the time to hit them hard. Are Dems to rely on Bill Barr and John Bolton to tell the truth? This is not the time for Schumer and Jeffries to become camera shy.
The Democrats' stated strategy is to stay out of it. This way it avoids giving the fascists more reason to accuse the Democrats of persecuting their political enemies.
I respectfully disagree. The history of fascist dictators is no compromise and to silence all opposition. It's been seven years now and the attacks on democracy, minorities, and national security continue. Fascist criminals that are part of this cult have been pardoned. Even Presidential candidates are campaigning on pardoning those that attempted to overthrow democracy on January 6th. From Mussolini to Franco to Hitler to Tojo they thrive on fear, intimidation, and violence to silence and destroy opponents. Neville Chamberlain did not attack Hitler and thought he negotiated a compromise. It did not happen and never has. There should be a Military presence in Miami Tuesday to immediately put down any criminal behavior in support of Trump, who has called followers to come. Good Germans were quiet thinking the Nazis would fade away, same as the other political parties thought, until it was too late. Silence will not quiet them or stop the attacks on democracy. It never has. It just emboldens them. They may have new names, but the Trumpers are the KKK and American Nazi Party of old. It is time to fight back, shout from the rooftops, and jail those that threaten or commit violence, no matter their station. They need to shut their threatening mouths and crawl back under the rocks from where they came.
James, you are correct, and here's the important reason why.
In the American media, a commonly understood version is that the German people in Germany went for Hitler in the early 1930s.
But in the more sophisticated version taught for decades at the Georgetown school of foreign service, it was the failure of the middle (the center coalition) to overcome petty issues, and/or to align for limited purposes with the communists, that enabled the Nazis to take control without even winning any majorities, because they could tie the system up while they had the sa doing its violence.
In fact, you can view a great lecture online today where Professor James Sheehan at Stanford explains that it was actually a decline in the Nazis political fortunes after they peaked in 1930 that caused its party supporters to demand more immediate results, and to insist that they simply use violence, steal the elections any way possible, etc rather than wait for any further electoral mandate.
If you don't see striking parallels to what the Republican party is today, then you're just not learning the history, or looking at what's in front of our eyes. As noted in a comment below, I think a lot of this comes down to the media system, which decades after Powell memorandum, and not just corporate domination in media , but in a systematized centralized data-driven way - the overall media has really got people confused.
So, while I am as strongly convinced in the ineptitude of the Democrat party as anybody I also understand that there's a real reason Chomsky said I've got to vote for Biden.
Chomsky was saying this last election was critical because he's looking at it as something totally different than anything we ever experienced before.
When Hannah Arendt sat down to describe 20th century totalitarianism she's very clear to say this is something new (resulting from a unique mix of historical factors involving imperialism and antisemitism) that the world had never experienced before.
Yeah, we have all kinds of nonsense in media, and some is believed by good, intelligent people and bandied about in these comments - today we have nonsense about Merrick Garland by people that obviously know nothing about federal prosecutions, and we have nonsense about Marx being a fascist. You know, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
The coverage in the New York Times on Saturday and what's been put on TV today it's just common playing horribly bad and really we all should be reading this indictment that Jack Smith filed.
It's specifically written so that lay people can understand the case and it's specifically putting a whole bunch of materials into the indictment. That is not really a typical thing to do. It was done for us.
IJack Smith said it's written that way in the indictment specifically to give the public an understanding of the scope and character of the crimes involved ... and the media system seems entirely focused on preventing us from reading these things.
I, as an old history major, appreciate your knowledge of history. The multiple parties in Germany at that time on the center right and the right hated the socialist party and the communist party and did not see Hitler and the Nazis as a serious threat and gave him a majority. In Italy, Mussolini's Blackshirts beat a famous union leader to death in the street. They did not have to repeat it often. That is how terrorism works, workers and their unions were terrorized. In 1929 when the Vatican allied with Mussolini, anything to stop the godless commies, he had all the credibility he needed with the people. Franco overthrew a democratically elected socialist government and an extreme right church, including the Opus Dei faction, aligned with Franco. Opus Dei exists on our own Supreme Court. Both sides corporate media, instead of a search for the truth, is another big discussion. I believe that is why we are all here reading the Hartmann Report. There are others as well and we must seek them out.
Facists will come after the Dems regardless. Jesus said to "turn the other cheek," but when both cheeks are bloody and bruised, it's time to fight back.
Fascists don't need any fuel. They create their own, constantly. Enough with the apologetics. It is what it is and the Democrats are weak and fearful, if not then the situation would not have got this far.
Jesus also said "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”, Luke 19:27 and in Luke 22:36 Jesus says, "Let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one."
Yes. Yahweh was originally a Canaanite war/storm God. From the very begging this god, the fundamental deity of all three Yagwists religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, has been steeped in violence, bigotry and misogyny. It simply can't be pulled out of the theology, despite the history recent emergence of a supposed "liberal" Christianity.
I am 84 years old and finally met someone who knows the history of the religion as I do.
If you can find them, you would enjoyhttps://www.amazon.com/Anacalypsis-Attempt-Inquiry-Languages-Religions/dp/1881316165 Caution it is a massive two volume work in fine print. (proably need reading glasses).
By the way the word Halleluia, is placed at the beginning and end of many Psalms in the same way that the ancient Greeks would say Eleleu at the beginning and end of older hymns to Apollo, and the word in it's original form was Alleluia or "Praise ye Ya (Ia)
The difficulty is that there is much wisdom in all three of these religions, but it is intermingled with the violence and discrimination etc. In addition, the so-called "interpretations" by cultists are often blatantly political. So, I do take lessons from the historical accounts about human behavior, while refusing to ascribe the very human biases written into the books by men (and it's always by men.)
Also I think it's been revealed to a certain extent, by a lot of the work Thom does and other sources, but sometimes it's hard to maintain a focus on it - and there's a complex system at play, but it seems obvious that:
1. "Media" (in the most inclusive sense) is much more pervasive than ever, and especially short term media controls much more of what's in the public discourse and controls much more of what's on peoples minds;
2. Trump (according to Harvard's shorenstein center) was a "media-created president" - the first in history; and is always willing to go above and around the main stream media to drive his message to his supporters; while
3. The Democrats seem to have only the worst types of media strategies; spending lots of money on media that they don't control, which doesn't carry any consistent messages (other than that republicans are bad) and that constantly and thoroughly promote corporate messaging. The Democrats from top to bottom seem to lack a good media strategy and they seem to coordinate less on media. They seem to spend money, uselessly and waste a lot of what could be done through the media.
The officiantes of the Democratic party, are cowardly, corrupt or complicit. Assuming good faith they are just cowards, I honestly don't think that they have a shred of a progressive ideology, just the need to stay in politiics and to that extent will sell their souls.
The endgame for the Republicans? It seems pretty clear that that it is permanent rule by them of every area and aspect of life in this country (don't assume that you're safe if you live in a "blue state").
To see their strategy, which has a very real chance of succeeding, watch "Shiny, Happy People" on Prime. Prime has done the country a real service in exposing this strategy.
Jun 12, 2023·edited Jun 12, 2023Liked by Thom Hartmann
Glad to discover we were both members of the "sane wing" of sds, Thom. Today's column turned me into a paid subscriber. I'm still pissed at the Weathermorons, too many of whom are still unrepentant.
Fort Rucker is no longer named for a Confederate traitor. It's now Fort Novosel, named for Mike Novosel, the greatest Dustoff pilot of the Vietnam War. Awarded the MoH for flying into the "Valley of death" 8 times despite damage to his bird to rescue ARVN troops.
Biden should have never chosen Garland. Swift punishment for all of the Republican fake electors and non-vote certifiers would have sent a swift message. Working these GOP get re-elected was incredibly stupid!!! Unless of course you want to live in a dictatorship. The Democrats should control the Congress and the supreme Court by now but thanks to the enabler Garland and Biden we have to hear more of this hell on Earth nonsense! I guess we either vote for Biden or we get a dictatorship, what a choice. There's a good chance that the third party no name will split the liberal vote and we'll end up with a dictatorship anyway. They are more like a gang of thugs and criminals than they are Christians.
Biden had the wrong work experience to be a president. First he was a senator for 30 years, and was mentored by two racists, what he learned was compromise, giving into the devil.
He wants to go down in history as the great bi partisan (pseudo Republican) president.
His colleagues in the senate called him the Senator from Wall Street, he was a senator from Delaware, which won the Charter Wars that Thom has talked about, and almost immediately 600 corporations, moved to Delaware,which was the first state to eliminate the death penalty for corporations.
A whole Lotta misinformation promotes this viewpoint, especially misinformation about what's involved in criminal prosecutions.
What's being expected/demanded here are prosecutions that would have failed and failed badly.
Instead, what you got is an enormous success story of multiple convictions for seditious conspiracy, thousands of successful prosecutions and an indictment (which will become multiple indictments) of Donald Trump on clear and convincing charges.
Not a difficult concept to grasp - the guy on the defense side says to the Jury "hey there's three witnesses to this supposed crime and those witnesses didn't show up in court and you don't know what they heard and you haven't heard from them - don't you have a reasonable doubt?"
When you are a prosecutor and you hear that being said to your jury, guess what? You have just lost your case!
This is a Point so utterly basic yet so far removed from any understanding you can get from reading about these ridiculous things about Garland in the lefty media.
"If we don’t take on bullies — particularly fascist bullies — they keep going further and further until either they win or you fight back and defeat them."
No truer words were ever spoken, Thom. Thank you. When I was young and in the Air Force, I knew a brilliant fighter pilot. He had been a QB with LSU during his college years, tested MENSA+ in intelligence. He was one of the kindest men I knew, though a bit of a rounder. I was always a bit of a pacifist, despite being in the military, which was an economic choice for a young woman with no money, as is the situation for many in the military. I asked him, once, "how do you square being a fighter pilot" with your philosophy of kindness and equality. I have never forgotten his gentle words: "Some people only understand the threat of physical violence, delivered in a heavy southern drawl -phy-si-cal vi-o-lence.
I took a whole class in college about Kent State (the professor had written a very good book on the killings). The guy(s) that fired were a bunch of 18 year old National Guard kids who were 'townies' and hated the students. There was a lot of anger and resentment behind it all. Years ago, I read an FBI analysis on domestic terrorists and their psyche. 4 out of 100,000 Americans are psycho/sociopaths. Out of that 4, 1 in 100,000 will flip and commit a mass-shooting or an act of domestic terrorism. Problem is, because of the sheer # of Trump followers, we're still talking about a lot of nuts out there.
From the headline I couldn't tell if you were referring to you and Democrats and Biden liberals and your penchant for imperialism and war (or blithe ignorance regarding the two in favor of your fearless leader) or the Republican obsession with guns and public calls for violence. Either way, Martin Luther King Jr, the visionary who liberals like you and your followers betray on a daily basis, had it right when he said the militarism we spread overseas will come home to roost. January 6th, Trumpism and all the malaise that liberals bemoan are the result of the spiritual and moral sickness that goes along with playing one side against the other while we turn the other cheek to favor leaders of our own who commit war crimes or aid and abet them on a daily basis.
Liberals ended the Vietnam war through protest and Biden ended the endless war in the ME, that was started by the Conservative Republicans. I, too, have become dismayed that so many Democrats have supported war. This country has a war-based economy and shows little signs of beating swords back into plows. If we get a deep recession or a depression, expect us to declare war somewhere. I should know, I was a part of it most of my life because, economically, I could not avoid it. I had, as many other do, children to support. The USA is owned by corporate interests - especially carbon fuels, and the defense industrial complex. What, pray tell, are your plans for changing this besides demeaning the only side that at least tries to work for peace?
Pretty difficult beating swords into plowshares when you have"competitors" like Xi and Putin.
Solve the Xi and Putin problem, and you resolve the issue, Of course Xi and Putin are the current figureheads for two fascist systems, that are supported by capitalism
Agree that there are threats, but they are purposely provoked and exaggerated. Again, a lifetime in defense has made this very real to me. I had worked with a retired 4-star general at one point, and I remember visiting his office; he looked down. I asked what was the matter; his reply was "I'm working about the North Koreans." That's a good enemy for them when no other enemy was available, but China and Russia are today's boogeymen. We could make common cause with China, as our economic interests are tied (they should be so tied, but here we are.) We put more money into defense than is really needed, at the expense of the citizenry and much of it is wasted. When is the last time we "won" a war? Watching today's geopolitics, it seems to me that the war drums are beating loudly in order to pump up the economy. Not sure where the war will be - could be either against Putin or Xi, but the oligarchs understand the economics of destruction mean that there will be lots of money to be made in both that destruction and reconstruction. A side benefit will be a reduction in the number of "peasants" which they find no longer useful. Until the USA curtains the power of corporations, we will continue this endless cycle. The SCOTUS's job is to see that doesn't happen.
I am a retired (Mustang) team leader of a small special ops unit. 26 years service, I even once talked back to the commander of the 82nd Airborne. His aide said you can't talk to the general like that, I responded I already did.
My team was vital to the mission, and I wasn't under his command. We did our job and that was it.
But I was conservative at the time, old line anti communist, but not with the current cultural agenda of the right. Just blind anti communism, anti Marx, until I learned that Marx was a free trader and a gold bug.. that is a proto libertarian, with an absolute disdain for the proletariat which he championed. He had disdain for the middle class (bourgeoisie), and he was a fan of the Federalists who believed in rule by the elect, the elite.
Special ops - whoa! I was a Mustang as well, so, like you, saw both the enlisted and officer side of things. I didn't stay to retirement; perhaps I should have, but that is water under the bridge. I am actually a bit more conservative now than I was then, but still mainstream liberal. Back then Vietnam radicalized a lot of us, even in the military. I look at the MAGA and sometimes wonder if rule by the elites might be better; however, history paints a different picture. I was in the 18th TFW during the Vietnam drawdown - the only woman and enlisted person in what was, essentially, the Top Gun school of the Pacific. Many men were sent directly to the 18th directly from the war to finish out a year to get combat credit. I saw, up close and personal, what war does to men. That's probably why I didn't stay in the Air Force.
I support ed Aussie, CIA (MACV), Army and Marines. I saw the country side from Dong Ha to the Delta. Worked with Khmer Serat (Free Cambodians and there CIA Handlers. Saw enough blood, guts and terror to last a life time, saw what a 105mm Howitzer loaded with a beehive round can do to a company of charging NVA.
Somehow , I was never traumitized, never had PTSD, probablly because of my way of looking at events and life, very Zen like. I put things behind me and move on. That's how one survives growing up in the project, by a single mom who had to work ($1 an hour)to support us.The men she trained got promoted and better wages, my Mom complained and was told that they had families to support. Mom said I have three children and myself to support, her boss told her to get married. That was life in the "good ole days" when Father knew best. a long list of four letter words follows.
I am no mainstream liberal. I call them the surrender caucus.
A very significant aspect of arendt's Pulitzer Prize winning book on the origins of totalitarian is to show how European imperialism created a kind of "race thinking" that didn't appear in society before, and that a bourgeoisie developed that was politically important for the first time.... and came to see imperialism (the "race for Africa") as an important support to its prosperity and advancement.
MLK provides a very good example of an American analysis similar to this.
There are commentators (can't remember which) who recently have returned to this basic point that if you don't start with an understanding of imperialism any analysis of a country like USA is going to be lacking.
But....Chomsky has discussed terminology like "liberal" and "libertarian" and explains how these terms have vastly different meanings over time and continents, today to the point of a useage meaning the exact opposite of what the terms have meant for most of history. From my understanding, the most basic and noncontroversial historical use of the word liberal means John Locke. It means a system of private property where the focus is on the individual and individual rights rather than on the collective aspects of the society or mankind. Within this basic understanding most people in this society are "liberals" by this definition. in Vietnam war era, it was mostly about whether someone supported the war - the "liberal" terminology evolved later with Gingrich. In nyt speak it now roughly equates to people who read books. From Gingrich on the right wing have used all kinds of words in a perjorative way to describe politicians without any other real analysis - they're just basically calling names.
Comments here often fall into this same pattern which is to call people names - to talk about people themselves as good or bad rather than their positions or ideas, and to come up with a terminology that's not widely accepted as a way to describe people who don't themselves subscribe to that label. It's clearly on display in other comments today.
Of course, the most common examples of this name-calling practice include Trump and various right wing media narratives that newt Gingrich was instrumental in promoting.
Use of the word "tankie" in this forum has been just one example of this.
Under principles of logic and reasoning, these are ad hominem statements, and have no real probative value.
I'll stick with the progressive movement that was started through truthtelling utilizing investigative journalism. If we would have had more of that and less of pundits reverberating within the echo chamber so as not to offend their audience there would have been no Trump presidency in the first place.
A point of interest, the bridge explosion occurred next to the Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
"Even if you’re not from Philly or never travel to that section of the city, several commenters have pointed out you might be familiar with that neighborhood: it’s home to the infamous Four Seasons Total Landscaping."
Liberals do not work for peace, and certainly not Democrats. Barack Obama dropped 26,000 bombs during his presidency, illegally bombed Libya and provided assistance to MBS for his genocide in Yemen. Biden ended the occupation in Afghanistan then killed an entire family with an errant drone bombing and stole their Central Bank's money to give half to 9/11 survivors as a political stunt. Biden refuses to even consider negotiating a peace in Ukraine in favor of propping up the defense industry and making himself look like some kind of tough guy. Secretary of State Blinken lionizes Henry Kissinger at his 100th birthday party. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin fresh from his multimillion dollar stint on the board of Raytheon approves a contract for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of javelin missiles to be manufactured by...Raytheon. Interestingly the Republicans are now becoming the antiwar party, albeit primarily for purposes of political expediency. My suggestion would be to stop obsession about Trump and the Republicans and to start calling out Democrats directly for their oligarchal imperialism, including contacting representatives, social media campaigns, holding media outlets responsible, starting new media outlets that are oriented towards humanism, working for Democratic Party candidates who eschew corporate PAC money and obtaining informaiton from non-pundit, reliable sources (eg investigative journalists).
To see how well-focused and accurate our media system is, take a look around for judge cannon today and consider why the media immediately switched focus from the indictment to judge cannon. (The reason being that judge cannon is NOT going to be involved at all today, and is unlikely to be a big issue ever.). God forbid our media should actually walk the public through the indictment and focus on what's in it!
The corporate media narrative drones on about classified documents.
Is someone stealing from the store or taking someone's property out of the garage? They would have just as much of a basis for associating that with this case.
Please thom, anyone, please debunk this pervasive distraction in mainstream about "classified documents." That's simply a basis for distraction and false equivalency!
These crimes involve federal laws and statutes covering national security information that entirely disregard the classification status. Classified status is not any kind of issue in this case. The media should NOT be referring to "classified documents," rather it should always simply be referring to national security documents.
Read the indictment and what the 31 counts under espionage act pertain to!
Just this morning cnn did the same dance as my times, huff post, marketwatch and all kinds of other media, never making this distinction.
'If we continue to allow violence (like January 6th) and violent rhetoric to spread through the American body politic, we stand a very real chance of losing our republic"
Seems we have a conundrum going, Thom. The only people standing up to the fascist right seem to be the same folks that tremble at the thought of gun ownership. Are we to dial 911 at the first sight of an armada of Trump-flag-flying pickup trucks blasting down Mainstreet to take over city hall? Odds are, the call will be answered by someone in one of those pickups.
There's nothing like living through a world war as a child, to make one realize the importance of conscientious citizenship to the maintenance of law and order, even in this self-styled Greatest Country in the World. The determination of today's fascists to repeat the situation that developed in Germany ion the 1930s. So glad that Jack Smith has joined this effort, and deplore the threats to the life of his wife.
Insightful enough to induce me to subscribe (though, since the joining of social media is against my 'religion', I can't share my opinion on FB as you suggest).
I was a child in the 1930s living with my German mother and Filipino father in Manila.
My parents' fear for the future of the world has stayed with me ever since. How often I think: what happened in Germany then, well could happen in the self-styled Greatest Country in the World soon, if too few citizens are willing to bend their efforts to stop the US version of fascism in its tracks.
Good comment and good for you to walk away from fb. It is yet another absurdity in our world that even our relatively smaller universe of fair and accurate media is dependent on the same corrupt and unregulated tools of communication that facilitated an attack on the capitol and much other violence.
Years before former AG Barr left his trump-humping behind he gave a speech saying that increasing scrutiny over social media and internet is one rare thing that both sides agree on.
Great article except, where are the Dems in defending Jack Smith and attacking Trump and his co-conspirators? Trump and the rest are all over the airwaves lying. This is the time to hit them hard. Are Dems to rely on Bill Barr and John Bolton to tell the truth? This is not the time for Schumer and Jeffries to become camera shy.
The Democrats' stated strategy is to stay out of it. This way it avoids giving the fascists more reason to accuse the Democrats of persecuting their political enemies.
I respectfully disagree. The history of fascist dictators is no compromise and to silence all opposition. It's been seven years now and the attacks on democracy, minorities, and national security continue. Fascist criminals that are part of this cult have been pardoned. Even Presidential candidates are campaigning on pardoning those that attempted to overthrow democracy on January 6th. From Mussolini to Franco to Hitler to Tojo they thrive on fear, intimidation, and violence to silence and destroy opponents. Neville Chamberlain did not attack Hitler and thought he negotiated a compromise. It did not happen and never has. There should be a Military presence in Miami Tuesday to immediately put down any criminal behavior in support of Trump, who has called followers to come. Good Germans were quiet thinking the Nazis would fade away, same as the other political parties thought, until it was too late. Silence will not quiet them or stop the attacks on democracy. It never has. It just emboldens them. They may have new names, but the Trumpers are the KKK and American Nazi Party of old. It is time to fight back, shout from the rooftops, and jail those that threaten or commit violence, no matter their station. They need to shut their threatening mouths and crawl back under the rocks from where they came.
James, you are correct, and here's the important reason why.
In the American media, a commonly understood version is that the German people in Germany went for Hitler in the early 1930s.
But in the more sophisticated version taught for decades at the Georgetown school of foreign service, it was the failure of the middle (the center coalition) to overcome petty issues, and/or to align for limited purposes with the communists, that enabled the Nazis to take control without even winning any majorities, because they could tie the system up while they had the sa doing its violence.
In fact, you can view a great lecture online today where Professor James Sheehan at Stanford explains that it was actually a decline in the Nazis political fortunes after they peaked in 1930 that caused its party supporters to demand more immediate results, and to insist that they simply use violence, steal the elections any way possible, etc rather than wait for any further electoral mandate.
If you don't see striking parallels to what the Republican party is today, then you're just not learning the history, or looking at what's in front of our eyes. As noted in a comment below, I think a lot of this comes down to the media system, which decades after Powell memorandum, and not just corporate domination in media , but in a systematized centralized data-driven way - the overall media has really got people confused.
So, while I am as strongly convinced in the ineptitude of the Democrat party as anybody I also understand that there's a real reason Chomsky said I've got to vote for Biden.
Chomsky was saying this last election was critical because he's looking at it as something totally different than anything we ever experienced before.
When Hannah Arendt sat down to describe 20th century totalitarianism she's very clear to say this is something new (resulting from a unique mix of historical factors involving imperialism and antisemitism) that the world had never experienced before.
Yeah, we have all kinds of nonsense in media, and some is believed by good, intelligent people and bandied about in these comments - today we have nonsense about Merrick Garland by people that obviously know nothing about federal prosecutions, and we have nonsense about Marx being a fascist. You know, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
The coverage in the New York Times on Saturday and what's been put on TV today it's just common playing horribly bad and really we all should be reading this indictment that Jack Smith filed.
It's specifically written so that lay people can understand the case and it's specifically putting a whole bunch of materials into the indictment. That is not really a typical thing to do. It was done for us.
IJack Smith said it's written that way in the indictment specifically to give the public an understanding of the scope and character of the crimes involved ... and the media system seems entirely focused on preventing us from reading these things.
I, as an old history major, appreciate your knowledge of history. The multiple parties in Germany at that time on the center right and the right hated the socialist party and the communist party and did not see Hitler and the Nazis as a serious threat and gave him a majority. In Italy, Mussolini's Blackshirts beat a famous union leader to death in the street. They did not have to repeat it often. That is how terrorism works, workers and their unions were terrorized. In 1929 when the Vatican allied with Mussolini, anything to stop the godless commies, he had all the credibility he needed with the people. Franco overthrew a democratically elected socialist government and an extreme right church, including the Opus Dei faction, aligned with Franco. Opus Dei exists on our own Supreme Court. Both sides corporate media, instead of a search for the truth, is another big discussion. I believe that is why we are all here reading the Hartmann Report. There are others as well and we must seek them out.
Thanks for this. Your focused explanation changed my mind. Now we just have to convince the Democrats!
Appeasement never works.
Facists will come after the Dems regardless. Jesus said to "turn the other cheek," but when both cheeks are bloody and bruised, it's time to fight back.
I see it as strategy. This eliminates giving the fascists fuel to cry foul on persecuting political enemies.
Fascists don't need any fuel. They create their own, constantly. Enough with the apologetics. It is what it is and the Democrats are weak and fearful, if not then the situation would not have got this far.
I beg your pardon? These are supposed to friendly back and forth conversations. Try and keep it that way.
Jesus also said "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”, Luke 19:27 and in Luke 22:36 Jesus says, "Let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one."
Yes. Yahweh was originally a Canaanite war/storm God. From the very begging this god, the fundamental deity of all three Yagwists religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, has been steeped in violence, bigotry and misogyny. It simply can't be pulled out of the theology, despite the history recent emergence of a supposed "liberal" Christianity.
I am 84 years old and finally met someone who knows the history of the religion as I do.
If you can find them, you would enjoyhttps://www.amazon.com/Anacalypsis-Attempt-Inquiry-Languages-Religions/dp/1881316165 Caution it is a massive two volume work in fine print. (proably need reading glasses).
By the way the word Halleluia, is placed at the beginning and end of many Psalms in the same way that the ancient Greeks would say Eleleu at the beginning and end of older hymns to Apollo, and the word in it's original form was Alleluia or "Praise ye Ya (Ia)
The difficulty is that there is much wisdom in all three of these religions, but it is intermingled with the violence and discrimination etc. In addition, the so-called "interpretations" by cultists are often blatantly political. So, I do take lessons from the historical accounts about human behavior, while refusing to ascribe the very human biases written into the books by men (and it's always by men.)
Yes you have it correct.
Also I think it's been revealed to a certain extent, by a lot of the work Thom does and other sources, but sometimes it's hard to maintain a focus on it - and there's a complex system at play, but it seems obvious that:
1. "Media" (in the most inclusive sense) is much more pervasive than ever, and especially short term media controls much more of what's in the public discourse and controls much more of what's on peoples minds;
2. Trump (according to Harvard's shorenstein center) was a "media-created president" - the first in history; and is always willing to go above and around the main stream media to drive his message to his supporters; while
3. The Democrats seem to have only the worst types of media strategies; spending lots of money on media that they don't control, which doesn't carry any consistent messages (other than that republicans are bad) and that constantly and thoroughly promote corporate messaging. The Democrats from top to bottom seem to lack a good media strategy and they seem to coordinate less on media. They seem to spend money, uselessly and waste a lot of what could be done through the media.
The officiantes of the Democratic party, are cowardly, corrupt or complicit. Assuming good faith they are just cowards, I honestly don't think that they have a shred of a progressive ideology, just the need to stay in politiics and to that extent will sell their souls.
The endgame for the Republicans? It seems pretty clear that that it is permanent rule by them of every area and aspect of life in this country (don't assume that you're safe if you live in a "blue state").
To see their strategy, which has a very real chance of succeeding, watch "Shiny, Happy People" on Prime. Prime has done the country a real service in exposing this strategy.
Glad to discover we were both members of the "sane wing" of sds, Thom. Today's column turned me into a paid subscriber. I'm still pissed at the Weathermorons, too many of whom are still unrepentant.
Fort Rucker is no longer named for a Confederate traitor. It's now Fort Novosel, named for Mike Novosel, the greatest Dustoff pilot of the Vietnam War. Awarded the MoH for flying into the "Valley of death" 8 times despite damage to his bird to rescue ARVN troops.
Biden should have never chosen Garland. Swift punishment for all of the Republican fake electors and non-vote certifiers would have sent a swift message. Working these GOP get re-elected was incredibly stupid!!! Unless of course you want to live in a dictatorship. The Democrats should control the Congress and the supreme Court by now but thanks to the enabler Garland and Biden we have to hear more of this hell on Earth nonsense! I guess we either vote for Biden or we get a dictatorship, what a choice. There's a good chance that the third party no name will split the liberal vote and we'll end up with a dictatorship anyway. They are more like a gang of thugs and criminals than they are Christians.
Biden had the wrong work experience to be a president. First he was a senator for 30 years, and was mentored by two racists, what he learned was compromise, giving into the devil.
He wants to go down in history as the great bi partisan (pseudo Republican) president.
His colleagues in the senate called him the Senator from Wall Street, he was a senator from Delaware, which won the Charter Wars that Thom has talked about, and almost immediately 600 corporations, moved to Delaware,which was the first state to eliminate the death penalty for corporations.
A whole Lotta misinformation promotes this viewpoint, especially misinformation about what's involved in criminal prosecutions.
What's being expected/demanded here are prosecutions that would have failed and failed badly.
Instead, what you got is an enormous success story of multiple convictions for seditious conspiracy, thousands of successful prosecutions and an indictment (which will become multiple indictments) of Donald Trump on clear and convincing charges.
Not a difficult concept to grasp - the guy on the defense side says to the Jury "hey there's three witnesses to this supposed crime and those witnesses didn't show up in court and you don't know what they heard and you haven't heard from them - don't you have a reasonable doubt?"
When you are a prosecutor and you hear that being said to your jury, guess what? You have just lost your case!
This is a Point so utterly basic yet so far removed from any understanding you can get from reading about these ridiculous things about Garland in the lefty media.
Spot on.
"If we don’t take on bullies — particularly fascist bullies — they keep going further and further until either they win or you fight back and defeat them."
No truer words were ever spoken, Thom. Thank you. When I was young and in the Air Force, I knew a brilliant fighter pilot. He had been a QB with LSU during his college years, tested MENSA+ in intelligence. He was one of the kindest men I knew, though a bit of a rounder. I was always a bit of a pacifist, despite being in the military, which was an economic choice for a young woman with no money, as is the situation for many in the military. I asked him, once, "how do you square being a fighter pilot" with your philosophy of kindness and equality. I have never forgotten his gentle words: "Some people only understand the threat of physical violence, delivered in a heavy southern drawl -phy-si-cal vi-o-lence.
I took a whole class in college about Kent State (the professor had written a very good book on the killings). The guy(s) that fired were a bunch of 18 year old National Guard kids who were 'townies' and hated the students. There was a lot of anger and resentment behind it all. Years ago, I read an FBI analysis on domestic terrorists and their psyche. 4 out of 100,000 Americans are psycho/sociopaths. Out of that 4, 1 in 100,000 will flip and commit a mass-shooting or an act of domestic terrorism. Problem is, because of the sheer # of Trump followers, we're still talking about a lot of nuts out there.
From the headline I couldn't tell if you were referring to you and Democrats and Biden liberals and your penchant for imperialism and war (or blithe ignorance regarding the two in favor of your fearless leader) or the Republican obsession with guns and public calls for violence. Either way, Martin Luther King Jr, the visionary who liberals like you and your followers betray on a daily basis, had it right when he said the militarism we spread overseas will come home to roost. January 6th, Trumpism and all the malaise that liberals bemoan are the result of the spiritual and moral sickness that goes along with playing one side against the other while we turn the other cheek to favor leaders of our own who commit war crimes or aid and abet them on a daily basis.
Liberals ended the Vietnam war through protest and Biden ended the endless war in the ME, that was started by the Conservative Republicans. I, too, have become dismayed that so many Democrats have supported war. This country has a war-based economy and shows little signs of beating swords back into plows. If we get a deep recession or a depression, expect us to declare war somewhere. I should know, I was a part of it most of my life because, economically, I could not avoid it. I had, as many other do, children to support. The USA is owned by corporate interests - especially carbon fuels, and the defense industrial complex. What, pray tell, are your plans for changing this besides demeaning the only side that at least tries to work for peace?
Pretty difficult beating swords into plowshares when you have"competitors" like Xi and Putin.
Solve the Xi and Putin problem, and you resolve the issue, Of course Xi and Putin are the current figureheads for two fascist systems, that are supported by capitalism
Agree that there are threats, but they are purposely provoked and exaggerated. Again, a lifetime in defense has made this very real to me. I had worked with a retired 4-star general at one point, and I remember visiting his office; he looked down. I asked what was the matter; his reply was "I'm working about the North Koreans." That's a good enemy for them when no other enemy was available, but China and Russia are today's boogeymen. We could make common cause with China, as our economic interests are tied (they should be so tied, but here we are.) We put more money into defense than is really needed, at the expense of the citizenry and much of it is wasted. When is the last time we "won" a war? Watching today's geopolitics, it seems to me that the war drums are beating loudly in order to pump up the economy. Not sure where the war will be - could be either against Putin or Xi, but the oligarchs understand the economics of destruction mean that there will be lots of money to be made in both that destruction and reconstruction. A side benefit will be a reduction in the number of "peasants" which they find no longer useful. Until the USA curtains the power of corporations, we will continue this endless cycle. The SCOTUS's job is to see that doesn't happen.
I am a retired (Mustang) team leader of a small special ops unit. 26 years service, I even once talked back to the commander of the 82nd Airborne. His aide said you can't talk to the general like that, I responded I already did.
My team was vital to the mission, and I wasn't under his command. We did our job and that was it.
But I was conservative at the time, old line anti communist, but not with the current cultural agenda of the right. Just blind anti communism, anti Marx, until I learned that Marx was a free trader and a gold bug.. that is a proto libertarian, with an absolute disdain for the proletariat which he championed. He had disdain for the middle class (bourgeoisie), and he was a fan of the Federalists who believed in rule by the elect, the elite.
Special ops - whoa! I was a Mustang as well, so, like you, saw both the enlisted and officer side of things. I didn't stay to retirement; perhaps I should have, but that is water under the bridge. I am actually a bit more conservative now than I was then, but still mainstream liberal. Back then Vietnam radicalized a lot of us, even in the military. I look at the MAGA and sometimes wonder if rule by the elites might be better; however, history paints a different picture. I was in the 18th TFW during the Vietnam drawdown - the only woman and enlisted person in what was, essentially, the Top Gun school of the Pacific. Many men were sent directly to the 18th directly from the war to finish out a year to get combat credit. I saw, up close and personal, what war does to men. That's probably why I didn't stay in the Air Force.
I support ed Aussie, CIA (MACV), Army and Marines. I saw the country side from Dong Ha to the Delta. Worked with Khmer Serat (Free Cambodians and there CIA Handlers. Saw enough blood, guts and terror to last a life time, saw what a 105mm Howitzer loaded with a beehive round can do to a company of charging NVA.
Somehow , I was never traumitized, never had PTSD, probablly because of my way of looking at events and life, very Zen like. I put things behind me and move on. That's how one survives growing up in the project, by a single mom who had to work ($1 an hour)to support us.The men she trained got promoted and better wages, my Mom complained and was told that they had families to support. Mom said I have three children and myself to support, her boss told her to get married. That was life in the "good ole days" when Father knew best. a long list of four letter words follows.
I am no mainstream liberal. I call them the surrender caucus.
A very significant aspect of arendt's Pulitzer Prize winning book on the origins of totalitarian is to show how European imperialism created a kind of "race thinking" that didn't appear in society before, and that a bourgeoisie developed that was politically important for the first time.... and came to see imperialism (the "race for Africa") as an important support to its prosperity and advancement.
MLK provides a very good example of an American analysis similar to this.
There are commentators (can't remember which) who recently have returned to this basic point that if you don't start with an understanding of imperialism any analysis of a country like USA is going to be lacking.
But....Chomsky has discussed terminology like "liberal" and "libertarian" and explains how these terms have vastly different meanings over time and continents, today to the point of a useage meaning the exact opposite of what the terms have meant for most of history. From my understanding, the most basic and noncontroversial historical use of the word liberal means John Locke. It means a system of private property where the focus is on the individual and individual rights rather than on the collective aspects of the society or mankind. Within this basic understanding most people in this society are "liberals" by this definition. in Vietnam war era, it was mostly about whether someone supported the war - the "liberal" terminology evolved later with Gingrich. In nyt speak it now roughly equates to people who read books. From Gingrich on the right wing have used all kinds of words in a perjorative way to describe politicians without any other real analysis - they're just basically calling names.
Comments here often fall into this same pattern which is to call people names - to talk about people themselves as good or bad rather than their positions or ideas, and to come up with a terminology that's not widely accepted as a way to describe people who don't themselves subscribe to that label. It's clearly on display in other comments today.
Of course, the most common examples of this name-calling practice include Trump and various right wing media narratives that newt Gingrich was instrumental in promoting.
Use of the word "tankie" in this forum has been just one example of this.
Under principles of logic and reasoning, these are ad hominem statements, and have no real probative value.
Fascism of the Marxist variety, are you.
Too bad Marx was a proto libertarian, not a socialist.
I'll stick with the progressive movement that was started through truthtelling utilizing investigative journalism. If we would have had more of that and less of pundits reverberating within the echo chamber so as not to offend their audience there would have been no Trump presidency in the first place.
A point of interest, the bridge explosion occurred next to the Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
"Even if you’re not from Philly or never travel to that section of the city, several commenters have pointed out you might be familiar with that neighborhood: it’s home to the infamous Four Seasons Total Landscaping."
https://billypenn.com/2023/06/11/highway-collapse-philadelphia-i95-truck-fire/
Liberals do not work for peace, and certainly not Democrats. Barack Obama dropped 26,000 bombs during his presidency, illegally bombed Libya and provided assistance to MBS for his genocide in Yemen. Biden ended the occupation in Afghanistan then killed an entire family with an errant drone bombing and stole their Central Bank's money to give half to 9/11 survivors as a political stunt. Biden refuses to even consider negotiating a peace in Ukraine in favor of propping up the defense industry and making himself look like some kind of tough guy. Secretary of State Blinken lionizes Henry Kissinger at his 100th birthday party. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin fresh from his multimillion dollar stint on the board of Raytheon approves a contract for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of javelin missiles to be manufactured by...Raytheon. Interestingly the Republicans are now becoming the antiwar party, albeit primarily for purposes of political expediency. My suggestion would be to stop obsession about Trump and the Republicans and to start calling out Democrats directly for their oligarchal imperialism, including contacting representatives, social media campaigns, holding media outlets responsible, starting new media outlets that are oriented towards humanism, working for Democratic Party candidates who eschew corporate PAC money and obtaining informaiton from non-pundit, reliable sources (eg investigative journalists).
It's mug shot day folks.
To see how well-focused and accurate our media system is, take a look around for judge cannon today and consider why the media immediately switched focus from the indictment to judge cannon. (The reason being that judge cannon is NOT going to be involved at all today, and is unlikely to be a big issue ever.). God forbid our media should actually walk the public through the indictment and focus on what's in it!
The corporate media narrative drones on about classified documents.
Is someone stealing from the store or taking someone's property out of the garage? They would have just as much of a basis for associating that with this case.
Please thom, anyone, please debunk this pervasive distraction in mainstream about "classified documents." That's simply a basis for distraction and false equivalency!
These crimes involve federal laws and statutes covering national security information that entirely disregard the classification status. Classified status is not any kind of issue in this case. The media should NOT be referring to "classified documents," rather it should always simply be referring to national security documents.
Read the indictment and what the 31 counts under espionage act pertain to!
Just this morning cnn did the same dance as my times, huff post, marketwatch and all kinds of other media, never making this distinction.
'If we continue to allow violence (like January 6th) and violent rhetoric to spread through the American body politic, we stand a very real chance of losing our republic"
Seems we have a conundrum going, Thom. The only people standing up to the fascist right seem to be the same folks that tremble at the thought of gun ownership. Are we to dial 911 at the first sight of an armada of Trump-flag-flying pickup trucks blasting down Mainstreet to take over city hall? Odds are, the call will be answered by someone in one of those pickups.
Any suggestions?
There's nothing like living through a world war as a child, to make one realize the importance of conscientious citizenship to the maintenance of law and order, even in this self-styled Greatest Country in the World. The determination of today's fascists to repeat the situation that developed in Germany ion the 1930s. So glad that Jack Smith has joined this effort, and deplore the threats to the life of his wife.
Insightful enough to induce me to subscribe (though, since the joining of social media is against my 'religion', I can't share my opinion on FB as you suggest).
I was a child in the 1930s living with my German mother and Filipino father in Manila.
My parents' fear for the future of the world has stayed with me ever since. How often I think: what happened in Germany then, well could happen in the self-styled Greatest Country in the World soon, if too few citizens are willing to bend their efforts to stop the US version of fascism in its tracks.
Good comment and good for you to walk away from fb. It is yet another absurdity in our world that even our relatively smaller universe of fair and accurate media is dependent on the same corrupt and unregulated tools of communication that facilitated an attack on the capitol and much other violence.
Years before former AG Barr left his trump-humping behind he gave a speech saying that increasing scrutiny over social media and internet is one rare thing that both sides agree on.