There is no movement advocating political violence on the American left. It is entirely confined to the American right & the media needs to admit that, and the FBI needs to recalibrate their efforts…
It does seem clear that many, many people in power have kept their heads down and complied with #45's vicious threats. What about the Senators who refused to convict him in his two impeachments. Few Republicans had dared to cross him.
It is very interesting that many of the prosecutors of Trumps evil regime are black and brown .
Also interesting that some of the white judges are caving to the defendants spurious accusations .
Judge McAfee sent the wrong message when he took up the defendants lawyers accusations against DA Fani Willis .
Whose business is it who she dates , how is it really relative to the case?
These people are conniving constantly to let Trump the Fascist off the hook for multiple crimes. Judge McAfee not only allowed this intrusion , he was incredibly abusive and condescending to the DA publicly.
Why ? Because he’s chickenshit scared of the defendants .
This accusation did not need to delay the trial . He let that happen and then jumped on the pile.
Here’s a thought .
‘ No we’re not going to go there with this trial ‘ take a lesson from Just say no.
tRump is definitely the useful idiot for the rabid racist bigots, religious zealots and authoritarian millionaire/billionaires. He fits perfectly with their idea of someone to head a mafia style government with the power brokers in the shadows to pull the strings. He is totally transactional without ethics or conscience. And the violence he inspires and condones is part and parcel of the whole plan to keep the low information idiots riled up and swallowing dear leaders idiotic ideas (let’s have a bleach and laser/dewormer cocktail anyone?).
I love irony! And I believe that if and when democracy prevails, history will record that the descendants of former slaves led the way.
The Constitution not only helped to enslave them, but it also confirmed them as citizens with the same legal status as all citizens.
MLK’s entire message was founded on his faith in the Constitution and his demand was that the nation live up to its promise. “I have a dream….”.
Those with the courage to stand up to Trump are those who have lived experience of Democracy’s potential to empower anyone willing to take the risks necessary to make the change necessary to make “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” possible for everyone.
Overwhelmingly, 3 outta 5 Whites voted for Trump — twice.
Biden was pummeled by the majority race in 2020.
Indeed, over 7 million more Cultists-for-Trump voted in 2020 than in 2016.
And this, AFTER he proved that he was in fact, an incompetent, egomaniacal psychotic during the Plague's outset. ( "Don't let the cruise ship dock. . . . Makes my plague numbers bad.")
What does that tell us about us?
Are we: Cruel? Vicious? Sick? . . . You'll get no argument from me.
When I see vintage black-and-white photos of Red bodies being shoved into mass graves in the 19th century West of this nation, I am reminded of black-and-white movies of WWII Nazis doing the same type of pushing, but to Jewish corpses.
Trump is a Putin-wannabe, a sad, commie puppet, leading us to where the sun never shines.
We need to take his candidacy and shove it . . . into that same dark place.
Race hate is too high a price to pay, to wind up under not just a dictator, but, a proven doofus failure, to boot. One whose sole political attraction to his cultists, is a personality disorder — race hate..
It's our national worship of Mammon combined with conscious or unconscious anti-dark skin bigotry! We associate riches with virtue far too much! Lord Acton knew whereof he spake when he said, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." We need to TAX the rich so that they stay rich bur nowhere near as rich as too many of them have become! When a few obscenely rich people can effectively buy our government, then they are too wealthy for the good of their own souls and we should tell them so and act in a way to save their souls!
These accounts of threatened or actual violence remind me a bit of what is now happening in the Ukraine. I thought that the Russians had moved on from the brutal days of Stalin, when so many of their troops ran riot over the civilians of eastern Europe, particularly the Germans, looting, raping and murdering at will. Some of them certainly were and are better than that, but there is still an element that is glad to do terrible damage.
Not that Americans are necessarily any better—my mother (1913-2012) used to disparage the German people for “taking orders” when they were wrong. True, but My Lei, Abu Ghraib and many other black prisons show we can be just like them.
Put such examples together and we may come up with the conclusion that most people are followers and, as the Milgram experiments indicated, will do what they are told. And if they are angry, pushed down, abused or otherwise feel powerless they may take it out on anybody who they have permission to go after.
Whether this means that in America people of color are more courageous than whites is something that I don’t know. But as Thom says as a group they certainly have had to deal with more oppression and maybe that has led to more solidarity in fighting back. But one thing is clear, for anyone who cares being quiet is the worst strategy. And sitting back, not asking questions, and ignoring what is happening elsewhere only works in the short term. For as Thom also wrote, until they are confronted bullies never give up
I've read the 16 comments this morning and I would like to speak to the trembling I feel here.
I am a woman. I have been fighting and contributing to many campaigns. Republicans have gone to far. The rest of America is engaged in a fierce battle to win at the ballot box.
Republicans = violence and fear. Democrats = fierce, yet caring non-violence and hope.
I firmly believe that your writings and that of Joyce Vance, Mary Trump, Heather Cox-Richardson, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Jay Kuo, Simon Rosenberg, the staff at Democracy Docket, and so many others will help build a strong fight against the dark view being sold by Republicans.
In all the elections, up and down the ballots, democracy will prevail. Have hope. Be inspired. Do postcards, make calls, do texts, walk if you can in your neighborhoods, write to the editors of your local newspapers, make your voice heard on social media sites, on YouTube, and in your neighborhood gatherings. Do whatever you can, and together we will defeat this attempt to destroy our democracy. It has been going on for decades and has just broken through like a boil that has suddenly become an open oozing sore. Americans will kill this infection and continue on building and perfecting the America that our forefathers sought for us.
Your astute observations about Black leadership and Black female leadership in prosecuting Trump’s crimes are spot on, but please do acknowledge that Nancy Pelosi was behind the assembling of the January 6th Committee. She picked the courageous Bennie Thompson, and white members of that committee as well as Black and Hispanic ( think Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Jamie Raskin and really all the rest), and they all are enduring ongoing threats as well as career destruction. Let’s honor Black leadership, women’s courage, and all the great people in public office who buck the right wing obstruction at every turn. Don’t divide us. This struggle transcends all our origins. Expand our reach to overturn the evil of the right.
No one is coming to clean my home. I must do it my self. And I hate to clean the bathtub. I really hate to clean the bathtub.
Donald J.Trump is many things but he is especially a traitor to the United States of America who is still walking around a free man spewing his hate and bile. How fast were lesser known beings who leaked classified documents arrested, tried and imprisoned?
How many appeals did Alexei Navalny get before he was imprisoned? Two months after Yergeny Prigoshin challenged Putin on his war plans for Ukraine, his plane blew up. Look what Viktor Orban, Prime Minister (read dictator) of Hungary has being doing to those who speak out against him.
If Trump is in the White House again, this will happen here. He has told us what he will do. Believe him.
No one is coming to help us clean up this mess. Don't look to the officials, not our Senators or
Representatives or Governors or Secretaries of State. It is up to us, the voters. Do what you can do at this time. Vote but what else.
Once again, Thomm doesn't hold back the pucnches and he's courages enough to tell the truth. He asks thought provoking questions and provides evidence to back up his points. I hope he provides a follow up piece about the courageous republican women who stood up against 45 including; Lynnn Cheney, Sarah Matthew and Cassidy Hutchinson. Will these women (and others like them) save the republican party?
That rage and anger addiction are self justifying should b clear to any outsider looking at what American culture has become: a celebration of rage and violence, with endless war, a gun for every American, incessantly violent "entertainment" like profootball, MMA, "prize" fighting, and now political violence. Afterall, it's not called the "fight-flight" reaction for no reason. Our Mad King (wannabe) Donald was schooled by the iconic furious madman, Adolph Hitler, and Vince McMahon of WWE infamy, and has attracted every pissed-off entitled white guy/gal in the country. Rage is central to our survival emotions/behaviors and highly rewarding through outpouring of dopamine and endorphins, among other stress hormones. Unfortunately for our constitutional Republic, rage is highly addicting, you know, like an I-phone, or the Lotteries, or gambling of any sort. To a retired psychiatrist, it makes perfect sense, but your excellent writing/analysis is very accurate as well. Thanks for all you do!
While I continue to urge a blue vote everywhere, for everyone, and to do all you can to maximize that, Thom’s contribution today tells me two things. First, for too many non-white people, a blue vote is a risky act of courage, especially in deep red areas of the country (Idaho panhandle, anyone?). Second, if TFG wins in November, and maybe even if he doesn’t, the sad truth is that all who oppose him and his cultists, but especially non-white Americans, red to exercise their “Second Amendment rights” the cultists bleat about so intensely. Hopefully not to have to use them, but so that the cultists pay if they start to use violence to try to get their way.
I will not be among them. I am too old and infirm. But some younger extended family members are already prepared. That we have come to this is a tragedy. Never forget: this is the world the morbidly rich want. May they reap what they have sown.
It does seem clear that many, many people in power have kept their heads down and complied with #45's vicious threats. What about the Senators who refused to convict him in his two impeachments. Few Republicans had dared to cross him.
It is very interesting that many of the prosecutors of Trumps evil regime are black and brown .
Also interesting that some of the white judges are caving to the defendants spurious accusations .
Judge McAfee sent the wrong message when he took up the defendants lawyers accusations against DA Fani Willis .
Whose business is it who she dates , how is it really relative to the case?
These people are conniving constantly to let Trump the Fascist off the hook for multiple crimes. Judge McAfee not only allowed this intrusion , he was incredibly abusive and condescending to the DA publicly.
Why ? Because he’s chickenshit scared of the defendants .
This accusation did not need to delay the trial . He let that happen and then jumped on the pile.
Here’s a thought .
‘ No we’re not going to go there with this trial ‘ take a lesson from Just say no.
tRump is definitely the useful idiot for the rabid racist bigots, religious zealots and authoritarian millionaire/billionaires. He fits perfectly with their idea of someone to head a mafia style government with the power brokers in the shadows to pull the strings. He is totally transactional without ethics or conscience. And the violence he inspires and condones is part and parcel of the whole plan to keep the low information idiots riled up and swallowing dear leaders idiotic ideas (let’s have a bleach and laser/dewormer cocktail anyone?).
I love irony! And I believe that if and when democracy prevails, history will record that the descendants of former slaves led the way.
The Constitution not only helped to enslave them, but it also confirmed them as citizens with the same legal status as all citizens.
MLK’s entire message was founded on his faith in the Constitution and his demand was that the nation live up to its promise. “I have a dream….”.
Those with the courage to stand up to Trump are those who have lived experience of Democracy’s potential to empower anyone willing to take the risks necessary to make the change necessary to make “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” possible for everyone.
And Merrick the Meek Garland sits on his hands....
Overwhelmingly, 3 outta 5 Whites voted for Trump — twice.
Biden was pummeled by the majority race in 2020.
Indeed, over 7 million more Cultists-for-Trump voted in 2020 than in 2016.
And this, AFTER he proved that he was in fact, an incompetent, egomaniacal psychotic during the Plague's outset. ( "Don't let the cruise ship dock. . . . Makes my plague numbers bad.")
What does that tell us about us?
Are we: Cruel? Vicious? Sick? . . . You'll get no argument from me.
When I see vintage black-and-white photos of Red bodies being shoved into mass graves in the 19th century West of this nation, I am reminded of black-and-white movies of WWII Nazis doing the same type of pushing, but to Jewish corpses.
Trump is a Putin-wannabe, a sad, commie puppet, leading us to where the sun never shines.
We need to take his candidacy and shove it . . . into that same dark place.
Race hate is too high a price to pay, to wind up under not just a dictator, but, a proven doofus failure, to boot. One whose sole political attraction to his cultists, is a personality disorder — race hate..
It's our national worship of Mammon combined with conscious or unconscious anti-dark skin bigotry! We associate riches with virtue far too much! Lord Acton knew whereof he spake when he said, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." We need to TAX the rich so that they stay rich bur nowhere near as rich as too many of them have become! When a few obscenely rich people can effectively buy our government, then they are too wealthy for the good of their own souls and we should tell them so and act in a way to save their souls!
Where is the brave man / woman who will send this wannabe deranged hitler meme back to his maker? I wonder. Future will tell.
These accounts of threatened or actual violence remind me a bit of what is now happening in the Ukraine. I thought that the Russians had moved on from the brutal days of Stalin, when so many of their troops ran riot over the civilians of eastern Europe, particularly the Germans, looting, raping and murdering at will. Some of them certainly were and are better than that, but there is still an element that is glad to do terrible damage.
Not that Americans are necessarily any better—my mother (1913-2012) used to disparage the German people for “taking orders” when they were wrong. True, but My Lei, Abu Ghraib and many other black prisons show we can be just like them.
Put such examples together and we may come up with the conclusion that most people are followers and, as the Milgram experiments indicated, will do what they are told. And if they are angry, pushed down, abused or otherwise feel powerless they may take it out on anybody who they have permission to go after.
Whether this means that in America people of color are more courageous than whites is something that I don’t know. But as Thom says as a group they certainly have had to deal with more oppression and maybe that has led to more solidarity in fighting back. But one thing is clear, for anyone who cares being quiet is the worst strategy. And sitting back, not asking questions, and ignoring what is happening elsewhere only works in the short term. For as Thom also wrote, until they are confronted bullies never give up
I've read the 16 comments this morning and I would like to speak to the trembling I feel here.
I am a woman. I have been fighting and contributing to many campaigns. Republicans have gone to far. The rest of America is engaged in a fierce battle to win at the ballot box.
Republicans = violence and fear. Democrats = fierce, yet caring non-violence and hope.
I firmly believe that your writings and that of Joyce Vance, Mary Trump, Heather Cox-Richardson, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Jay Kuo, Simon Rosenberg, the staff at Democracy Docket, and so many others will help build a strong fight against the dark view being sold by Republicans.
In all the elections, up and down the ballots, democracy will prevail. Have hope. Be inspired. Do postcards, make calls, do texts, walk if you can in your neighborhoods, write to the editors of your local newspapers, make your voice heard on social media sites, on YouTube, and in your neighborhood gatherings. Do whatever you can, and together we will defeat this attempt to destroy our democracy. It has been going on for decades and has just broken through like a boil that has suddenly become an open oozing sore. Americans will kill this infection and continue on building and perfecting the America that our forefathers sought for us.
Your astute observations about Black leadership and Black female leadership in prosecuting Trump’s crimes are spot on, but please do acknowledge that Nancy Pelosi was behind the assembling of the January 6th Committee. She picked the courageous Bennie Thompson, and white members of that committee as well as Black and Hispanic ( think Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Jamie Raskin and really all the rest), and they all are enduring ongoing threats as well as career destruction. Let’s honor Black leadership, women’s courage, and all the great people in public office who buck the right wing obstruction at every turn. Don’t divide us. This struggle transcends all our origins. Expand our reach to overturn the evil of the right.
Canon should have been removed from the bench long ago.
No one is coming to clean my home. I must do it my self. And I hate to clean the bathtub. I really hate to clean the bathtub.
Donald J.Trump is many things but he is especially a traitor to the United States of America who is still walking around a free man spewing his hate and bile. How fast were lesser known beings who leaked classified documents arrested, tried and imprisoned?
How many appeals did Alexei Navalny get before he was imprisoned? Two months after Yergeny Prigoshin challenged Putin on his war plans for Ukraine, his plane blew up. Look what Viktor Orban, Prime Minister (read dictator) of Hungary has being doing to those who speak out against him.
If Trump is in the White House again, this will happen here. He has told us what he will do. Believe him.
No one is coming to help us clean up this mess. Don't look to the officials, not our Senators or
Representatives or Governors or Secretaries of State. It is up to us, the voters. Do what you can do at this time. Vote but what else.
Okay, I am going to go clean my bathtub.
Once again, Thomm doesn't hold back the pucnches and he's courages enough to tell the truth. He asks thought provoking questions and provides evidence to back up his points. I hope he provides a follow up piece about the courageous republican women who stood up against 45 including; Lynnn Cheney, Sarah Matthew and Cassidy Hutchinson. Will these women (and others like them) save the republican party?
That rage and anger addiction are self justifying should b clear to any outsider looking at what American culture has become: a celebration of rage and violence, with endless war, a gun for every American, incessantly violent "entertainment" like profootball, MMA, "prize" fighting, and now political violence. Afterall, it's not called the "fight-flight" reaction for no reason. Our Mad King (wannabe) Donald was schooled by the iconic furious madman, Adolph Hitler, and Vince McMahon of WWE infamy, and has attracted every pissed-off entitled white guy/gal in the country. Rage is central to our survival emotions/behaviors and highly rewarding through outpouring of dopamine and endorphins, among other stress hormones. Unfortunately for our constitutional Republic, rage is highly addicting, you know, like an I-phone, or the Lotteries, or gambling of any sort. To a retired psychiatrist, it makes perfect sense, but your excellent writing/analysis is very accurate as well. Thanks for all you do!
While I continue to urge a blue vote everywhere, for everyone, and to do all you can to maximize that, Thom’s contribution today tells me two things. First, for too many non-white people, a blue vote is a risky act of courage, especially in deep red areas of the country (Idaho panhandle, anyone?). Second, if TFG wins in November, and maybe even if he doesn’t, the sad truth is that all who oppose him and his cultists, but especially non-white Americans, red to exercise their “Second Amendment rights” the cultists bleat about so intensely. Hopefully not to have to use them, but so that the cultists pay if they start to use violence to try to get their way.
I will not be among them. I am too old and infirm. But some younger extended family members are already prepared. That we have come to this is a tragedy. Never forget: this is the world the morbidly rich want. May they reap what they have sown.