The difference between Republican and Democratic visions for America is as clear as the difference between Russia and Norway (or California and Mississippi)…
This is one of the main reasons why teaching history is crucial. We are living in a larger period of expanding human rights but that is not always the natural cycle in all of human history. We have to make people aware of this, so that they will be urges to protect this time. With so much destruction being done to educational culture and institutions, it becomes harder to incentivize people to protect what was given to them by prior generations.
Absolutely right about learning from history, Steward.
Tim Snyder in his book "On Tyranny" draws 20 lessons we should learn from the twentieth century in order to resist the force of tyranny. Second only to "Do Not Obey in Advance" is "Defend Institutions".
As Thom points out today, MAGA extremists are intent on destroying our institutions of government. At this moment the House of Representatives is under assault from within. It's imperative that we not allow the People's House to remain broken and dysfunctional until 2025.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) realizes this as well. That's why last Friday, in the Washington Post, he explicitly called for Republicans to enter into a bipartisan governing coalition. His plea is elegant and gracious, and everyone should read it:
Despite what many progressive liberals believe, Mr. Jeffries is of the opinion that there are still enough "traditional Republicans" to make his proposal a reality. Given that he knows far more about this than his skeptical critics, I'd give him the benefit of any doubt.
At least a few of these potential Republican partners have the training, experience and skills to lead in taking that bold step. But they need to have their courage bolstered if they are to break with MAGA extremism.
For those who'd like to help rather than just opine in the comment section and wait to see what happens, let me suggest calling one or each of these Representatives and urge them to either run themself as a consensus candidate, or to support one of the others to do so.
Don Bacon (R-NE): (202) 225-4155 D.C. or (402) 938-0300 District
Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA): (202) 225-4276 D.C. or (215) 579-8102 District
Mike Gallagher (R-WI): (202) 225-5665 D.C. or (920) 301-4500 District
David Joyce (R- OH): (202) 225-5731 D.C. or (440) 352-3939 District
Tearing down our democratically organized institutions is synonymous with the building up of a fascist Goliath. MAGA-Putin folk aren't reinventing the wheel here - they're simply heisting and repurposing it to their exclusive benefit (and their inhuman, criminally wealthy financiers).
The idea of "government" in democracy is simple: To provide for the general welfare of the people, represent the will of the people fairly and equally, and to act as a stedfast check against outsized personal/ private power encroaching on the welfare and will of the people. That last part is what the sociopathetic (not a typo) faction of the GOP and all other fascist-infested groups hate most: A thing standing between them and their nihilistic impulses. They loath a thing strong enough to block their shortsighted, ill-conceived, self-serving, rapacious existence. They are the rapists, the serial killers, and the kleptocratic losers of civilization itself. They are the inferno that is "Wetiko".
Our most promising defense against these contemporary global Jim Jones's is to renounce their legitimacy and their ambitions - resoundingly - as one people united and committed to building a stronger democracy through a more representative and functional government.
If we are to share in this planet of life, we must share the resources and opportunities it provides. When we share things, rules need to be applied - otherwise, sharing becomes stealing and/ or hoarding. Rules are the difference between a functioning society that serves all, and a dystopian blackhole that serves few. Governments are formed and utilized to create and manage such rules. Government is not inherently "bad". Nor is it inherently "good". It is, simply, whatever we chose it to be - through our involvement.
As a suggestion, one way to involve ourselves is to demand that representatives of hostile foreign adversaries not be allowed to simultaneously pretend to be US Senators - like Tommy Tuberville, for example.
What is perhaps most frightening will be the loosing of heavily armed "patriots" or "militias" which are nothing more than criminal gangs, unaccountable to the will of the majority and ultimately under the control of the supreme warlord, trump himself.
Here in NH, we have a Congressional candidate who states over and over that the USA is becoming the Maoist China she left behind. She's only off by a few decades. If the MAGA crowd gets their way, America will most resemble the anarchic China from the decline of the Qing Dynasty to the strongman regime of Chiang Kai-Shek.
Thanks to FDR, the gun nuts have not gone hungry a day in their life. But the ungrateful Trump humpers, want a third world standard of living while hating FDR, thinking that they will rise to the top. Thinking is not one of their strong points. Religion has played a major role in their brain malfunctioning. If we had a real president and not Biden, the ring leaders would all be locked up by now, including tubbyville. The GOP will not go away until they are banned as a terrorist organization. They are no longer a political party. The GOP refuses to work towards the common good, and work only for the rich globalist autocrats good. I remember before Trump how much the right wingers hated the deep globalists. I'm glad I have no children. You can't reason with lunatics. It looks like the future is going to be worse than the dark ages thanks to unlimited greed and religious groomers.
IMHO a lot of it is racism. Democrats are identified with desegregation of the south, forced busing, loss oj jobs due to affirmative action, hiring illegals to displace whites at all levels. Clinton added NAFTA.
Nixon's southern strategy has worked.
Thom often cites to the "Two Santa Claus Theory" -- Republicans characterize Social Security and Medicare as gifts frm Santa. Republicans assume the role of a second Santa by not arguing to cut spending but offering the option of cutting taxes. They actually want to "sunset" all benefits.
The FDR left were marginalized by the Reagan Democrats. UNLIMITED greed allowed the rich to buy both parties. The Trump humpers will soon realize why so many third worlders are leaving their countries in total despair and hunger. The rich grab up all of the natural resources on Earth and then want a government of every man for himself. What sick bastards the family unit and religions have spawned.
Despite what you say, Biden is the most effective, most progressiver president since LBJ. There are two choices in this country: democracy (such as it is) and Fascism.
Reagan Democrats. I lived on I-75 for several years. In bad times in KY and TN and southern states generally, there was a constant stream of displaced people taking the "Hillbilly Highway" (also Rte 41) to the promised land, Michigan, where there were jobs. In the main, these were the Reagan Democrats. They probably voted because they have a collective subconscious predelliction to racism. Not any economic rationale.
They voted for Trump in part in 2016 and 2020 because their jobs were shipped overseas and Trump promised to bring them back. They still gall at the thought of Macadora plants sitting on the southern border.
Biden and the Democratic Party brought the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act the Chips Act, and potentially millions of good jobs.
The Democrat party is definitely the lesser of two evils. It looks to me like the Democrat party is handing over the control of the United States to the billionaire autocrats and trying to do it as gently as possible so as not to disrupt the money flow. Without riots and a civil war. We have no choice but to vote for socialism and democracy and hopefully we get some Democrats who can't be bought off!
There is no such thing in America as a "Democrat party."
That was a slur Joe McCarthy came up with in 1954, saying that "Democratic Party" (the party's real name) sounded too good, so instead Republicans should always say, "Democrat Party, with an emphasis on the 'rat'!"
Oh, so now the "real president" gets to "lock people up?" So, it is okay to be a fascist as long as you are on the correct side? How is that different from what the Trump and the Republicans want? I do not see how you win the war if you lose the battles.
Only after a real attorney general files provable criminal behavior. First, the attorney general has to start looking. Only got a couple months left to prosecute the insurrectionist instigators. Now Washington is distracted by the Israeli debacle. How convenient.
I am going to say something which will probably meet some strong objections. But in my years of genealogical research, I've read many books about our early history in an attempt to understand the constant migration from the North, west into the Great Lakes and beyond and south and west into the Carolinas and through the Cumberland gap.
One thing I remember is Thomas Jefferson, after visiting a Baptist church meeting (not worship service) in Danville, Pittsylvania Co, VA, he was disgusted with the noise, arguments and disruption of the church elders and committees and developed a distaste for a democracy that included the common man.
TJ as well as the rest of the founding fathers were the oligarchs of their time, the wealthy elite, either Northern Merchants or Southern planters and the Constitution they cobbled together was designed to protect and enhance the power of the oligarchs. Examples: that only white landed men with property had a vote, and the senate was picked by the various states, white landed property owning men.
Over time as one party or another found it an advantage, the constitution was amended 27 times, including including election of senator by the public, not an elite state legislature, giving former slaves the right to vote, and finally in the 20th century, recognizing women as full human beings.
As I have written elsewhere, approaching 2024, Democrats need to focus more on their pro-worker agenda—$15 hourly minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, the child tax credit, affordable, quality childcare, universal healthcare, investments in housing, in eldercare, and more—all of which have received zero Republican support. Moreover, the leadership has to go where the trouble is in this country and grapple first-hand with the despair Trump / Trumpism persists in stoking. Then, without a script, from the heart, they need to speak with everyday people who doubt that Democrats care about the wreckage of their dreams. In a word, they should speak for justice and for equity, for safety and for reform, for the crying need to bring the country together. If they say these things half as well as some of our great orators, we might not have to live with four more years of Trump.
I read the Anatomy of Fascism (Robert O Paxton) back in 2004. As a world authority on the history of fascism, Professor Paxton offers a very integrated view. For instance, he points out that fascists are not at all interested in governing, just telling people what to do and how to live their lives (sound familiar?). They lie to get what they want and toss supporters under the proverbial bus when they complain or outlive their usefulness to sustaining growing power (ask Ann Coulter about that one). This and many other traits and modus operandi now define the fascist Grand Ole Republican Party.
Even Paxton was slow to see it coming. Back in 2018, I asked him in retirement if he thought Trump was a fascist. Back then he said he did not think so. Then in 2021, he published an OpEd in the Newsweek "Donald Trump is a Fascist." Since about 2019, I started noticing more journalists using the F word to describe Trumpism, MAGAism, and GOP policy.
Today, it is not uncommon for journalists to refer to Republicans and their hijinks as fascist. However, they continue to call these anti-establishment insurrectionist vandals the Republican Party and not the fascists that they are. Ironically, GOP Fascists have no problem calling the liberal party the "Radical Socialist Democrats." If they can call the left what they are - supporters of democratic socialism, why can't journalist refer to them as the "Fascist Party" for supporting anti-democratic authoritarianism?
Before the modern era, only royals were morbidly rich. Now we have many (relatively speaking) morbidly rich people, and they see the opportunity to become the new royals. We are fixated on the past 100-200 years of history. We think that WWII was about Fascism vs Democracy. That was the short view. The larger view shows that it was about Royalism vs Modernism, and the war continues. Most wars since the Enlightenment were extended battles in that war.
All of this is correct. I wonder why I never hear anyone but Sheldon Whitehouse pound the drum that he does regarding what her refers to as :the scheme". The way he presents it makes it feel irrefutably a long game strategy that has worked exceedingly well, but, if true, is a series of punishable crimes against the nation. And no one talks about it. Except Mr. Whitehouse, who, by the way, ALSO appears to be the only Senator willing to take on the corruption if sitting judges. VERY little chiming in, VERY little being added to his roster of concerns, and VEY little cohesiveness of the Democratic Party.
Because of the typecast perception of conspiracy theories as strictly the realm of the lunatic fringe, conspiracies get ignored. Pretending that conspiracies to overthrow the American system are imaginary, now THAT is a dereliction of duty.
This is a corollary of the topic of this post, Mr. Hartman. What IF all of the above, broadened to include the incredible list of regulations undone by Trump and the tax cuts he instituted, is part of a well-played strategy? What IF the current state of affairs of the House are part of that plan, sowing seeds of anarchy? What IF January 6th, and all the ties to disparate yet united well-armed organizations that are coast to coast, are all tied to "The Scheme"?
I am NOT given to such conspiracy talk. But nothing makes sense any more, unless those "what ifs" are not theory, but fact? What, then, must we do? If all of the signals are not random, but tied together, are the only things that can be done is talk about it, criticize it, whine about it?
Sheldon is a national treasure. (As is Katie Porter.) It seems to me you are too defensive in fear of somebody (somebody you know?) calling you a "conspiracy theorist." A couple of notes: Thom has referenced one inspiration-point for the long conspiracy in Paul Weyrich's infamous "I don't want everybody to vote" speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw Also more up-to-date, let's not forget all the evidence that a set of Congresspeople were in on the Jan. 6 "scheme," including old Chuck Grassley all teed up to take the gavel if (just in case!) Mike Pence was out of commission. So don't be shy!
Ya, that "laboratories of democracy" thing isn't exactly working out for the average person in the red states. Blue states can confirm what they do works for the greater good, but the red states just keep doubling down on their bad policies.
This is a short punchy Report Thom, very easy to share! Slap on a comment that the proof is in the pudding and we are done. Thanks.
Allow me to say this. Most people are knowledgeable of reverse psychology.Political operatives are trained and use it to full effect.
With reverse psychology, the aggressor will make a statement, one that the victim would even agree with, but because it is uttered by the aggressor the reaction is to defend and try to debunk, that way they keep the victim on the defense, the back foot, always responding and defending something that shouldn’t be defended.
An example. The media gave Trump millions of free advertising, even keeping a camera, for 20 minutes, focused on an empty podium. Without the media Trump would never be president and today they still aren’t doing their job, witness the shit show on CNN when thrown soft balls by Kristen Welker, who didn’t follow through and sat back and let Trump filibuster and talk down to her.
Now that the media is chasing another shiny object, Trump has declared, them the enemy of the people..
Same with the FBI. The FBI has been relentless in persecuting leftists, and civil rights champions like MLK. While the traitors were plotting Jan 6, the FBI was infiltrating, investigating and building profiles about BLM and other civil rights workers, and I would not be surprised if they have infiltrated and keep tabs on unions, for the benefit of the oligarchs.
The DOJ and FBI are infected with Trump humpers, as is the secret service, these departments are historically conservative, meaning anti progressive. One thing is for sure, they didn’t warn the Capitol police about the J6 conspiracy, and it was not hidden, but brazenly organized on social media.
Now that the FBI, following orders, raided Mar a Lago, they are the enemy of the people, which is something I as a progressive thought long ago, and the expected knee jerk response of liberals is to defend the FBI.
Perfect employment of reverse psychology. Lenin said: Oppose what you propose, propose what you oppose and the enemy will hand you the keys to the kingdom on a silver platter.
Two issues come to mind in regards to the animal kingdom (to which we belong) and the exercise of democracy. A murder of crows all look, act, eat and congregate the same way within their group, as do white tailed deer, beavers, ants, etc. Humans, having originally developed in different regions of the world, adapted different melanin levels, eye colors, hair type and colors, various nose and eye shapes that reflect regional differences in climate, terrain, and other local variations. It's apparently easier to be democratic if everyone in the group is kinda in the same ball park. Humans don't even share the same reality let alone act similarly. Unlike the rest of the animals that exercise democracy, humans are far too divided by tribe and the other differences mentioned. Many generations from now, if humans survive the coming climate disaster, and we have merged all of the differences into a single group of Homo Sapiens, we will have the unity needed to join those who are waiting for that day.
The second thought has to do with the tendency of liberals to let fascists off the hook after we defeat them. In 1789 we allowed Torries, who supported and fought for the English crown, to remain in America, rather than send them back to England. We gave the fascist Southern cotton barons a pen and paper to write about the 'War of Northern Aggression" rather than treat them as the traitors they were. The only reason we are aware of the 'Businessmen's Coup' to kidnap FDR is because Thom has discussed it. Those folks should have been prosecuted and jailed. But, they were never held to account. We allow fascist groups to pollute our politics with their hate, racism and bigotry. They exist because we allow it. Hate speech should never be given First Amendment protections.
Democracy requires educated, enlightened, engaged and diligent participants. It is only as strong as our commitment to it. That's why it requires constant maintenance. Democracy is never a completed project, there is always more to do, especially when there are conservatives hanging around the place. Keep an eye open for the corruption when they are present.
The words of Winston Churchill come to mind in the Darkest Hour of Great Britain - "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.” Never give up our freedoms and our democracy.
Coincidence: I dipped into my bookmarks at random and first up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvD44Rh-MQw Maybe these "woke" "kids" will stand in for "our Empire beyond the seas."
I have stood along side Gen Z on the street during women's and black lives movement days. They are ready, willing and able. Eric said they are coming for them in '24---believe it, Mmerose. Thanks for that link.
While not an armed conflict against an invader, it is nonetheless a serious conflict of citizens against a wealthy group of elitists who want more and more and more - and stoke the fire with second amendment appeal. We are in a serious conflict that needs our attention, perseverance and zeal.
Been happening for a long time... I love The Road to Unfreedom on this:
With the end of the Cold War, the victory of liberal democracy seemed final. Observers declared the end of history, confident in a peaceful, globalized future. This faith was misplaced. Authoritarianism returned to Russia, as Vladimir Putin found fascist ideas that could be used to justify rule by the wealthy. In the 2010s, it has spread from east to west, aided by Russian warfare in Ukraine and cyberwar in Europe and the United States.
Russia found allies among nationalists, oligarchs, and radicals everywhere, and its drive to dissolve Western institutions, states, and values found resonance within the West itself. The rise of populism, the British vote against the EU, and the election of Donald Trump were all Russian goals, but their achievement reveals the vulnerability of Western societies.
In this forceful and unsparing work of contemporary history, based on vast research as well as personal reporting, Snyder goes beyond the headlines to expose the true nature of the threat to democracy and law. To understand the challenge is to see, and perhaps renew, the fundamental political virtues offered by tradition and demanded by the future. By revealing the stark choices before us--between equality or oligarchy, individuality or totality, truth and falsehood--Snyder restores our understanding of the basis of our way of life, offering a way forward in a time of terrible uncertainty.
This is one of the main reasons why teaching history is crucial. We are living in a larger period of expanding human rights but that is not always the natural cycle in all of human history. We have to make people aware of this, so that they will be urges to protect this time. With so much destruction being done to educational culture and institutions, it becomes harder to incentivize people to protect what was given to them by prior generations.
Absolutely right about learning from history, Steward.
Tim Snyder in his book "On Tyranny" draws 20 lessons we should learn from the twentieth century in order to resist the force of tyranny. Second only to "Do Not Obey in Advance" is "Defend Institutions".
As Thom points out today, MAGA extremists are intent on destroying our institutions of government. At this moment the House of Representatives is under assault from within. It's imperative that we not allow the People's House to remain broken and dysfunctional until 2025.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) realizes this as well. That's why last Friday, in the Washington Post, he explicitly called for Republicans to enter into a bipartisan governing coalition. His plea is elegant and gracious, and everyone should read it:
https://wapo.st/48DDrsB (no subscription required to read this item)
Despite what many progressive liberals believe, Mr. Jeffries is of the opinion that there are still enough "traditional Republicans" to make his proposal a reality. Given that he knows far more about this than his skeptical critics, I'd give him the benefit of any doubt.
At least a few of these potential Republican partners have the training, experience and skills to lead in taking that bold step. But they need to have their courage bolstered if they are to break with MAGA extremism.
For those who'd like to help rather than just opine in the comment section and wait to see what happens, let me suggest calling one or each of these Representatives and urge them to either run themself as a consensus candidate, or to support one of the others to do so.
Don Bacon (R-NE): (202) 225-4155 D.C. or (402) 938-0300 District
Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA): (202) 225-4276 D.C. or (215) 579-8102 District
Mike Gallagher (R-WI): (202) 225-5665 D.C. or (920) 301-4500 District
David Joyce (R- OH): (202) 225-5731 D.C. or (440) 352-3939 District
You can learn a little more about each one here:
https://jerryweiss.substack.com/p/if-mccarthys-out-whos-in
.
Hammer sinks the nail on this one...
Tearing down our democratically organized institutions is synonymous with the building up of a fascist Goliath. MAGA-Putin folk aren't reinventing the wheel here - they're simply heisting and repurposing it to their exclusive benefit (and their inhuman, criminally wealthy financiers).
The idea of "government" in democracy is simple: To provide for the general welfare of the people, represent the will of the people fairly and equally, and to act as a stedfast check against outsized personal/ private power encroaching on the welfare and will of the people. That last part is what the sociopathetic (not a typo) faction of the GOP and all other fascist-infested groups hate most: A thing standing between them and their nihilistic impulses. They loath a thing strong enough to block their shortsighted, ill-conceived, self-serving, rapacious existence. They are the rapists, the serial killers, and the kleptocratic losers of civilization itself. They are the inferno that is "Wetiko".
Our most promising defense against these contemporary global Jim Jones's is to renounce their legitimacy and their ambitions - resoundingly - as one people united and committed to building a stronger democracy through a more representative and functional government.
If we are to share in this planet of life, we must share the resources and opportunities it provides. When we share things, rules need to be applied - otherwise, sharing becomes stealing and/ or hoarding. Rules are the difference between a functioning society that serves all, and a dystopian blackhole that serves few. Governments are formed and utilized to create and manage such rules. Government is not inherently "bad". Nor is it inherently "good". It is, simply, whatever we chose it to be - through our involvement.
As a suggestion, one way to involve ourselves is to demand that representatives of hostile foreign adversaries not be allowed to simultaneously pretend to be US Senators - like Tommy Tuberville, for example.
What is perhaps most frightening will be the loosing of heavily armed "patriots" or "militias" which are nothing more than criminal gangs, unaccountable to the will of the majority and ultimately under the control of the supreme warlord, trump himself.
Here in NH, we have a Congressional candidate who states over and over that the USA is becoming the Maoist China she left behind. She's only off by a few decades. If the MAGA crowd gets their way, America will most resemble the anarchic China from the decline of the Qing Dynasty to the strongman regime of Chiang Kai-Shek.
Thanks to FDR, the gun nuts have not gone hungry a day in their life. But the ungrateful Trump humpers, want a third world standard of living while hating FDR, thinking that they will rise to the top. Thinking is not one of their strong points. Religion has played a major role in their brain malfunctioning. If we had a real president and not Biden, the ring leaders would all be locked up by now, including tubbyville. The GOP will not go away until they are banned as a terrorist organization. They are no longer a political party. The GOP refuses to work towards the common good, and work only for the rich globalist autocrats good. I remember before Trump how much the right wingers hated the deep globalists. I'm glad I have no children. You can't reason with lunatics. It looks like the future is going to be worse than the dark ages thanks to unlimited greed and religious groomers.
IMHO a lot of it is racism. Democrats are identified with desegregation of the south, forced busing, loss oj jobs due to affirmative action, hiring illegals to displace whites at all levels. Clinton added NAFTA.
Nixon's southern strategy has worked.
Thom often cites to the "Two Santa Claus Theory" -- Republicans characterize Social Security and Medicare as gifts frm Santa. Republicans assume the role of a second Santa by not arguing to cut spending but offering the option of cutting taxes. They actually want to "sunset" all benefits.
The FDR left were marginalized by the Reagan Democrats. UNLIMITED greed allowed the rich to buy both parties. The Trump humpers will soon realize why so many third worlders are leaving their countries in total despair and hunger. The rich grab up all of the natural resources on Earth and then want a government of every man for himself. What sick bastards the family unit and religions have spawned.
Despite what you say, Biden is the most effective, most progressiver president since LBJ. There are two choices in this country: democracy (such as it is) and Fascism.
Reagan Democrats. I lived on I-75 for several years. In bad times in KY and TN and southern states generally, there was a constant stream of displaced people taking the "Hillbilly Highway" (also Rte 41) to the promised land, Michigan, where there were jobs. In the main, these were the Reagan Democrats. They probably voted because they have a collective subconscious predelliction to racism. Not any economic rationale.
They voted for Trump in part in 2016 and 2020 because their jobs were shipped overseas and Trump promised to bring them back. They still gall at the thought of Macadora plants sitting on the southern border.
Biden and the Democratic Party brought the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act the Chips Act, and potentially millions of good jobs.
The Democrat party is definitely the lesser of two evils. It looks to me like the Democrat party is handing over the control of the United States to the billionaire autocrats and trying to do it as gently as possible so as not to disrupt the money flow. Without riots and a civil war. We have no choice but to vote for socialism and democracy and hopefully we get some Democrats who can't be bought off!
There is no such thing in America as a "Democrat party."
That was a slur Joe McCarthy came up with in 1954, saying that "Democratic Party" (the party's real name) sounded too good, so instead Republicans should always say, "Democrat Party, with an emphasis on the 'rat'!"
Only a Republican would call us the "Democrat" Party.
Wrong, I've pronounced it wrong all my life without knowing till now. I will try my best to say democratic.
Oh, so now the "real president" gets to "lock people up?" So, it is okay to be a fascist as long as you are on the correct side? How is that different from what the Trump and the Republicans want? I do not see how you win the war if you lose the battles.
And said he wanted to execute a distinguished US Joint Chief and decorated war veteran
Only after a real attorney general files provable criminal behavior. First, the attorney general has to start looking. Only got a couple months left to prosecute the insurrectionist instigators. Now Washington is distracted by the Israeli debacle. How convenient.
The short answer is to protect a guilty twice impeached 4 times indicted, 91 count criminal ex president.
I am going to say something which will probably meet some strong objections. But in my years of genealogical research, I've read many books about our early history in an attempt to understand the constant migration from the North, west into the Great Lakes and beyond and south and west into the Carolinas and through the Cumberland gap.
One thing I remember is Thomas Jefferson, after visiting a Baptist church meeting (not worship service) in Danville, Pittsylvania Co, VA, he was disgusted with the noise, arguments and disruption of the church elders and committees and developed a distaste for a democracy that included the common man.
TJ as well as the rest of the founding fathers were the oligarchs of their time, the wealthy elite, either Northern Merchants or Southern planters and the Constitution they cobbled together was designed to protect and enhance the power of the oligarchs. Examples: that only white landed men with property had a vote, and the senate was picked by the various states, white landed property owning men.
Over time as one party or another found it an advantage, the constitution was amended 27 times, including including election of senator by the public, not an elite state legislature, giving former slaves the right to vote, and finally in the 20th century, recognizing women as full human beings.
No objections or corrections from me. Nicely stayed.
As I have written elsewhere, approaching 2024, Democrats need to focus more on their pro-worker agenda—$15 hourly minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, the child tax credit, affordable, quality childcare, universal healthcare, investments in housing, in eldercare, and more—all of which have received zero Republican support. Moreover, the leadership has to go where the trouble is in this country and grapple first-hand with the despair Trump / Trumpism persists in stoking. Then, without a script, from the heart, they need to speak with everyday people who doubt that Democrats care about the wreckage of their dreams. In a word, they should speak for justice and for equity, for safety and for reform, for the crying need to bring the country together. If they say these things half as well as some of our great orators, we might not have to live with four more years of Trump.
I read the Anatomy of Fascism (Robert O Paxton) back in 2004. As a world authority on the history of fascism, Professor Paxton offers a very integrated view. For instance, he points out that fascists are not at all interested in governing, just telling people what to do and how to live their lives (sound familiar?). They lie to get what they want and toss supporters under the proverbial bus when they complain or outlive their usefulness to sustaining growing power (ask Ann Coulter about that one). This and many other traits and modus operandi now define the fascist Grand Ole Republican Party.
Even Paxton was slow to see it coming. Back in 2018, I asked him in retirement if he thought Trump was a fascist. Back then he said he did not think so. Then in 2021, he published an OpEd in the Newsweek "Donald Trump is a Fascist." Since about 2019, I started noticing more journalists using the F word to describe Trumpism, MAGAism, and GOP policy.
Today, it is not uncommon for journalists to refer to Republicans and their hijinks as fascist. However, they continue to call these anti-establishment insurrectionist vandals the Republican Party and not the fascists that they are. Ironically, GOP Fascists have no problem calling the liberal party the "Radical Socialist Democrats." If they can call the left what they are - supporters of democratic socialism, why can't journalist refer to them as the "Fascist Party" for supporting anti-democratic authoritarianism?
Before the modern era, only royals were morbidly rich. Now we have many (relatively speaking) morbidly rich people, and they see the opportunity to become the new royals. We are fixated on the past 100-200 years of history. We think that WWII was about Fascism vs Democracy. That was the short view. The larger view shows that it was about Royalism vs Modernism, and the war continues. Most wars since the Enlightenment were extended battles in that war.
All of this is correct. I wonder why I never hear anyone but Sheldon Whitehouse pound the drum that he does regarding what her refers to as :the scheme". The way he presents it makes it feel irrefutably a long game strategy that has worked exceedingly well, but, if true, is a series of punishable crimes against the nation. And no one talks about it. Except Mr. Whitehouse, who, by the way, ALSO appears to be the only Senator willing to take on the corruption if sitting judges. VERY little chiming in, VERY little being added to his roster of concerns, and VEY little cohesiveness of the Democratic Party.
Because of the typecast perception of conspiracy theories as strictly the realm of the lunatic fringe, conspiracies get ignored. Pretending that conspiracies to overthrow the American system are imaginary, now THAT is a dereliction of duty.
This is a corollary of the topic of this post, Mr. Hartman. What IF all of the above, broadened to include the incredible list of regulations undone by Trump and the tax cuts he instituted, is part of a well-played strategy? What IF the current state of affairs of the House are part of that plan, sowing seeds of anarchy? What IF January 6th, and all the ties to disparate yet united well-armed organizations that are coast to coast, are all tied to "The Scheme"?
I am NOT given to such conspiracy talk. But nothing makes sense any more, unless those "what ifs" are not theory, but fact? What, then, must we do? If all of the signals are not random, but tied together, are the only things that can be done is talk about it, criticize it, whine about it?
Sheldon is a national treasure. (As is Katie Porter.) It seems to me you are too defensive in fear of somebody (somebody you know?) calling you a "conspiracy theorist." A couple of notes: Thom has referenced one inspiration-point for the long conspiracy in Paul Weyrich's infamous "I don't want everybody to vote" speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw Also more up-to-date, let's not forget all the evidence that a set of Congresspeople were in on the Jan. 6 "scheme," including old Chuck Grassley all teed up to take the gavel if (just in case!) Mike Pence was out of commission. So don't be shy!
Ya, that "laboratories of democracy" thing isn't exactly working out for the average person in the red states. Blue states can confirm what they do works for the greater good, but the red states just keep doubling down on their bad policies.
This is a short punchy Report Thom, very easy to share! Slap on a comment that the proof is in the pudding and we are done. Thanks.
Allow me to say this. Most people are knowledgeable of reverse psychology.Political operatives are trained and use it to full effect.
With reverse psychology, the aggressor will make a statement, one that the victim would even agree with, but because it is uttered by the aggressor the reaction is to defend and try to debunk, that way they keep the victim on the defense, the back foot, always responding and defending something that shouldn’t be defended.
An example. The media gave Trump millions of free advertising, even keeping a camera, for 20 minutes, focused on an empty podium. Without the media Trump would never be president and today they still aren’t doing their job, witness the shit show on CNN when thrown soft balls by Kristen Welker, who didn’t follow through and sat back and let Trump filibuster and talk down to her.
Now that the media is chasing another shiny object, Trump has declared, them the enemy of the people..
Same with the FBI. The FBI has been relentless in persecuting leftists, and civil rights champions like MLK. While the traitors were plotting Jan 6, the FBI was infiltrating, investigating and building profiles about BLM and other civil rights workers, and I would not be surprised if they have infiltrated and keep tabs on unions, for the benefit of the oligarchs.
The DOJ and FBI are infected with Trump humpers, as is the secret service, these departments are historically conservative, meaning anti progressive. One thing is for sure, they didn’t warn the Capitol police about the J6 conspiracy, and it was not hidden, but brazenly organized on social media.
Now that the FBI, following orders, raided Mar a Lago, they are the enemy of the people, which is something I as a progressive thought long ago, and the expected knee jerk response of liberals is to defend the FBI.
Perfect employment of reverse psychology. Lenin said: Oppose what you propose, propose what you oppose and the enemy will hand you the keys to the kingdom on a silver platter.
Two issues come to mind in regards to the animal kingdom (to which we belong) and the exercise of democracy. A murder of crows all look, act, eat and congregate the same way within their group, as do white tailed deer, beavers, ants, etc. Humans, having originally developed in different regions of the world, adapted different melanin levels, eye colors, hair type and colors, various nose and eye shapes that reflect regional differences in climate, terrain, and other local variations. It's apparently easier to be democratic if everyone in the group is kinda in the same ball park. Humans don't even share the same reality let alone act similarly. Unlike the rest of the animals that exercise democracy, humans are far too divided by tribe and the other differences mentioned. Many generations from now, if humans survive the coming climate disaster, and we have merged all of the differences into a single group of Homo Sapiens, we will have the unity needed to join those who are waiting for that day.
The second thought has to do with the tendency of liberals to let fascists off the hook after we defeat them. In 1789 we allowed Torries, who supported and fought for the English crown, to remain in America, rather than send them back to England. We gave the fascist Southern cotton barons a pen and paper to write about the 'War of Northern Aggression" rather than treat them as the traitors they were. The only reason we are aware of the 'Businessmen's Coup' to kidnap FDR is because Thom has discussed it. Those folks should have been prosecuted and jailed. But, they were never held to account. We allow fascist groups to pollute our politics with their hate, racism and bigotry. They exist because we allow it. Hate speech should never be given First Amendment protections.
Democracy requires educated, enlightened, engaged and diligent participants. It is only as strong as our commitment to it. That's why it requires constant maintenance. Democracy is never a completed project, there is always more to do, especially when there are conservatives hanging around the place. Keep an eye open for the corruption when they are present.
The words of Winston Churchill come to mind in the Darkest Hour of Great Britain - "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.” Never give up our freedoms and our democracy.
Coincidence: I dipped into my bookmarks at random and first up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvD44Rh-MQw Maybe these "woke" "kids" will stand in for "our Empire beyond the seas."
I have stood along side Gen Z on the street during women's and black lives movement days. They are ready, willing and able. Eric said they are coming for them in '24---believe it, Mmerose. Thanks for that link.
We're not fighting armed conflict against an invader, though. How do you overcome a rigged political system? https://www.thedailybeast.com/north-carolina-republicans-are-creating-a-secret-police-force This is a scary report. It reeks of unconstitutional, but all bets are off in the Leonard Leo/Mitch McConnell saturated courts.
While not an armed conflict against an invader, it is nonetheless a serious conflict of citizens against a wealthy group of elitists who want more and more and more - and stoke the fire with second amendment appeal. We are in a serious conflict that needs our attention, perseverance and zeal.
Thank you will share wide and far. We the people are far better than this plan
Been happening for a long time... I love The Road to Unfreedom on this:
With the end of the Cold War, the victory of liberal democracy seemed final. Observers declared the end of history, confident in a peaceful, globalized future. This faith was misplaced. Authoritarianism returned to Russia, as Vladimir Putin found fascist ideas that could be used to justify rule by the wealthy. In the 2010s, it has spread from east to west, aided by Russian warfare in Ukraine and cyberwar in Europe and the United States.
Russia found allies among nationalists, oligarchs, and radicals everywhere, and its drive to dissolve Western institutions, states, and values found resonance within the West itself. The rise of populism, the British vote against the EU, and the election of Donald Trump were all Russian goals, but their achievement reveals the vulnerability of Western societies.
In this forceful and unsparing work of contemporary history, based on vast research as well as personal reporting, Snyder goes beyond the headlines to expose the true nature of the threat to democracy and law. To understand the challenge is to see, and perhaps renew, the fundamental political virtues offered by tradition and demanded by the future. By revealing the stark choices before us--between equality or oligarchy, individuality or totality, truth and falsehood--Snyder restores our understanding of the basis of our way of life, offering a way forward in a time of terrible uncertainty.