Sad to say, as a history major and life-long history buff, I knew all of this. That history rhymes is peculiarly true. Our crises seem to come in 80 year intervals—the Revolution, the Civil War, WWII. Not coincidental that each involved a war for our survival. Ironic that our contenders for POTUS are both essentially 80 (I’m 76, in the oldest part of the Baby Boom cohort). I fear the enemies of our country will succeed this time. I have immense respect for President Biden, and will support him, but the combined forces of the MAGAts, plutocrats, media and Russian sabotage are making it more and more likely that the Orange Excremental will return to defecate upon us even more fulsomely than he did the last time.
Vote blue, everywhere and for every office, and we may have some hope. Do not let the perfect be the enemy if the good. Do not let apathy lead you to sit this one out. Because if we go red, we’re dead, not only figuratively, but quite possibly, nay probably, literally as well. If my grandson did not need me so much (I have been the only adult male in his life since the day he was born), I would gladly depart this life, and the rise of TFG and the exposure of the hideousness of so many of my fellow “Americans” is a major part of why. But I won’t, and I cannot, will not, give up the fight for our values and against the ugliness that our very own Sauron embodies in his urge to destroy nearly all that we hold dear.
Being your senior by two years, I support you 100% in order to save this country for my 3-year old twin grandkids. We must motivate every possible voter to overwhelmingly defeat the orange abomination and give Jack Smith the time that SCOTUS has robbed from him to send that fecal matter to prison and indict, try, and convict all his co-conspirators, including Ginni Thomas!
Yes, we say, "vote blue." But to anyone out there listening , we need to be saying: Check your registration! The New York Times just finally caught up with Hartmann and Palast and Abrams about registration purging, nationwide. I wish I had it precisely, but in (at least?) one state "caging" only takes 30 days non-response for the challenger to go to the registrar and registrar is MANDATED to disqualify the voter. Guess who's getting disqualified. Many thousands over thin margins. Maybe the message has to be, first and foremost: They may have kicked you off! Check your registration!
I certainly hope not. A minority, 19 Republican senators, opposed supplemental budgetary support of Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan.
Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) says that “several” House Republicans are willing to sign a discharge petition to force MAGA Mike to bring a national security supplemental measure to the floor for a vote. A simple majority can force a vote on a bill through a discharge petition, but such a measure is rare because it undermines the House speaker. With Johnson refusing to take up the Senate measure, Fitzpatrick and his colleague Representative Jared Golden (D-ME) have prepared their own pared-down aid measure.
Thanks Daniel. All it takes are five Republicans and several means three. I hope there are two more, but have heard nothing else about the discharge petition. Now that most primaries are over, are their any Republicans who give a shit about anything other than themselves,? I wonder.
I just posted, day late, about the best war movie I ever saw: "Battleground." 1949 The end of the movie is, a supply drop and then reinforcements come at the last gasp. The chaplain speech about 1:40 in is freakishly relevant today. Will fascism be defeated, or will we all go down?
Understandable because I didn't even get in the same day, they (?) put my first post way, way down. Thought you might be interested. By golly, who knows what's on YouTube? : Because the cast was so interesting, today on TCM I watched the best war movie I ever saw: "Battleground," 1949. It's a "desperate holdouts" drama about Battle of Bastogne, WWII.
About an hour forty minutes in, a chaplain gets a soliloquy on the question: "Was this Trip Necessary?" He begins by reviewing the futility of appeasement. Then he talks about never letting a super man, or super race, or super idea get strong enough again to make it necessary to defend world freedom. (paraphrasing as best I can - no DVR or back up) Then he says: "...and don't let anyone call you a sucker (!!!!!!) for defending the world against fascism." Trump. Putin. Appeasement. Then the "trip" is necessary. Then only war is left.
I watched battle ground in the theater, Saturday matinee. Didn't remember it was 1949, the best war movie ever. I looked for it for years.
I have Dish, just did a search, found it, and it is downloading as we speak. Thanks.
There is another war movie I would like to see, but don't know the name. I was 6 it was 1945, I don't know if it was before or after V J day, but Dad took me to the cinema on base (Quantico)
and we watched a movie, my hero, Smokey, flew off the deck of a carrier,into the ocean. I was crushed.
The Republicans are not just holding up fascists as their best friends, they are fascists themselves .
They’ve elevated Donald Trump as the ‘chosen’ one.
Which can be distressing to people that have any respect for the truth at all.
The Truth is that Donald Trump is a traitor to the United States of America. He tried desperately to overturn a free and fair election to enable his regaining of power.
For whom, why Donald J Trump of course. Donald Trump is a mentally ill man .
He lies so much it’s impossible to recall if I’ve ever heard the truth from him.
I’m going to take a wild guess. NO.
I’ve never heard the truth from Trump. I don’t know if he even knows the truth . I suspect it’s worked for him because. , face it. He has no conscience . It’s pushed out by his delusions of grandeur, his Malignant Narcissism
The Supreme Court has also been on a tear to advance fascism
They’ve protected Donald from reality by distorting the obvious meaning of the 14 th amendment , because dear lord we can’t have Donald upset .
Besides it also suits the Leonard Leo’s and Harlan Crowes of this world. Can’t have that.
Everyone needs to wake up and look at the truth. It’s right in front of us .
Donald s love affair with Putin and Mike Johnson’s suck up love affair with Trump is not allowing us to fulfill our obligation to Ukraine.
They were brutally attacked by Putin another power hungry dictator.
The majority of people ( real people) not the most corrupt monied people )
are wanting support for Ukraine .
The Republicans do not care. They do not represent any of the majority in this country.
So we’re going to have to care more than ever.
We need to work in every way we can to gain financial and military help for Ukraine. Now.
It never ceases to amaze me how scholars and the news media want to avoid comparatives of America today with the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. The reality appears to be that be it neo-Nazism, or white supremacy, or misogyny or antisemitism, the worst beliefs; the ideology and tenets of fascism, have once again smitten millions of bigots, fanatics, grifters, and mentally ill masses in this nation.
While they represent about 35% of the voting electorate, they are led and fueled by around 150 far right fascist loving billionaires, who clearly stand to realize their wet dream ultimately of first establishing a fascist phase and then moving to what Yanis Varoufakis tags as “Techno Feudalism.”
We as a nation forget all too readily that Amerika provided much of the underlying legal means to deny immigrants in flight safety from oppression. That America made segregation common and legal practice. That we first moved to eliminate “useless eaters” and sub humans from the pure white gene pool. And of course the Jews as the killers of Christ had to be eliminated along with all, as Trump states “vermin.”. All of this bile, hatred and fear is motivated with a literal religious fervor achieve a once mythic past, a past when White Aryans ruled.
You may want to logically turn away from my statements as hyperbole, but as brave historians like Timothy Snyder have shown us “history instructs us” to see where we went wrong and ideally prevent it in the future. The problem is one of our propensity to avoid the unpleasant past and replace it with opioid dreams of Oxycontin and insights from QAnon.
Simply further proof that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. The GOP has been trying to erase history for quite a while now. They need to look it up, they are echoing the nazis from the early 40s.
Sharon, those, like us who have studied history are doomed to repeat, because morons like the MAGAts, Hillary's deplorables, haven't and aren't interested, all they want is white Christian male dominance.
You would think the people would reject Putin puppies of the Repub leadership. I cannot believe my eyes that there are American's that agree with the invasion of another free country in Europe by Russia or any other nation. Fascism is truly alive and well in the world. Putin puppies all.
Manipulation of religion is a factor. I was treated to an account of how Zelinsky was plundering the (Orthodox) churches in Ukraine. (Family birthday event, I spoke up for Ukraine, whoops!) Following week, photo of Biden and Zelinsky in perfectly intact cathedral between beaming Orthodox priests in full regalia. Russian-speaking church connection was sucking Putin propaganda straight from the source. Probably more on the Russian side, if they think Zelinsky is enemy of God.....
What is the end point? The point is the affirmation of international law and with it the sovereignty of national borders. The end point is when all of the Russian armaments are removed from the sovereign territory of Ukraine. If Russia refuses to remove its implements of war, we will destroy them.
The bad news is that contemporary technology and propaganda tactics are something that Goebbels could only dream about exploiting for his master. However, the good news is that with the same 21st century knowledge and technological capabilities, we can motivate enough citizens to replace the Dunderheads (that jump for their oligarch masters) with competent leaders who will serve to fulfill their Constitutional purpose.
The problem is that small d democrats are not fanatic true believers, like the right wing..
The left is in disarray with too many groups pushing their own agenda, and flipping the bird to anyone who does join in their quixotic crusade, whereas the right is united, and the plutocrats gleefully use the culture war of the right, and the culture warriors of the right, gleefully support the plutocrats that finance them.
The right wing could care less about the economy, it is on the democrats that the party wise men and women, can't grasp ahold of that salient fact, They apparently honestly believe that if they pound the "you are doing good drum, because of IRA and build back better, because the numbers are favorable (to wall street, not Joe six pack) that, this is enough to win.
That is assuming the fight is at the cerebral level, the pre frontal cortex, it is not it is at the gut level, the lizard brain or amygdala.
And that is why Democrats are a minority party in government, though people with democratic inclinations outnumber those with authoritarian inclinations., but you can't' teach an old dog new tricks, too many entrenched political "experts" in the Democratic pary.
William, thank you for your fine description of the fundamental problem we must overcome if we are to fix the insanity of our democracy (“The problem is that small d democrats are not fanatic true believers, like the right wing.. The left is in disarray with too many groups pushing their own agenda, and flipping the bird to anyone who does join in their quixotic crusade”). As always, you nailed it.
We have millions of well-meaning citizens who have been motivated to seek redress of their personal grievances, and they tend to be self-focused in their endeavors to get their grievances redressed. Regardless of how unruly their behavior might be, I believe that the only sane response is to find a way to herd the cats and get them to join together in the effort to build the kind of democracy that the citizens of other countries would choose to have (if they have the choice).
In order to make this as easy as possible, I submit that everyone who has been so aggrieved that they sacrifice their own time and money to get their grievances redressed should be the target audience for a very important message.
These already activated citizens must understand that the reason that they have grievances in the first place is because of the powers of corporate personhood (i.e., money is speech and corporations are people). Basically, they need to know that all the really bad things done by humans in our world are either caused by, exacerbated by, or exploited by the powers of corporate personhood. In other words, everybody who has an important grievance with our government shares the same umbrella grievance.
Whether someone gets engaged to redress their grievances by petitioning or running for office or writing to their elected officials (or the local paper), or peaceably assemble (or any of the other ways to get “involved”), there are two things that are almost certainly true about their efforts.
First, they were inspired to get active because the morbidly rich sociopaths that wield the powers of corporate personhood somehow did things adverse to their rights and/or our communities’ interests.
Second, it is highly unlikely that their efforts will get their grievances redressed satisfactorily.
Therefore, the question becomes, how can we motivate 12 million already activated people to collaborate on submitting a simple petition to every elected official and candidate for office demanding that they support an amendment to end those powers?
Did you ever wonder if America’s critical mass of ill-educated racists that comprise the MAGA cult would have become ill-educated racists if our public education system had been managed and funded properly (or at least as well as in the 50’s and 60’s)?
Even if the “conservative” brains tend to rely more on their amygdalas than their prefrontal cortexes for decisions, they should still be capable of critical thinking skills and eschewing their cult of “personality.” At least that could be the case if we built and managed a role model public education system. But that won’t happen as long as money is speech and corporations are people.
Finally, I think that although the authoritarian cultic influence can get out the vote to support their master, they are still a decided minority. If there was no voter suppression or cheating or election fraud this fall, I wouldn’t worry so much. But when you're a regular reader of The Hartmann Report, it’s hard to forget how tenaciously corrupt the oligarch/grifter class has become.
It's not just Republicans -- the peace movement has also fallen hook, line, and sinker for Russian propaganda regarding Ukraine. Anti-war activists on the left have formed alliances with isolationists and appeasers on the right. Which is weird, because leftists used to consider themselves internationalists. On social media, Grayzone is basically indistinguishable from RT. Max Blumenthal praises Tucker Carlson and parrots Russian propaganda at the UN. Scott Ritter goes off on crazy tangents in Chechnya. Chris Hedges and Medea Benjamin hobnob with the "Z" crowd. Matt Taibbi carries water for Elon Musk. Seymour Hersh throws Russian idioms into his anonymously sourced stories. Dennis Kucinich is on the advisory board of the Ron Paul Institute. I could go on and on. I'm pretty sure this also happened in the 1930s when Hitler was on the rise, and during the 1939-41 period when the Soviet Union was collaborating with the Nazis. Now it's happening all over again, and it's disheartening.
Often "anti-establishment" groups can be co-opted by bad actors. Often these groups struggle to develop and dissemiante their messages so a little "help" from somewhere is welcome. Often that help is from bad actors.
The Green party in Europe is a good example of a Stasi supported project for many years. Interestingly, this seems to be fading in electoral attractiveness as the facts are better known. The abject failure of the Greens in the current German coalition has shown that governing is very different than making noise about what is wrong. It would not surprise me to see the Greens fall below the 5% parliamentary threshold and be expelled from government in the next election in Germany.
Sinema the fraud, first registered with the Green party, when that produced no results, she became a Democrat.
I think you are right about the bad actors. Democracy Now has been taken over by Muslims, and I see Saudi Arabian influence behind it.
Before someone tried to get on my case about Islamophobia, or "I know some perfectly nice Muslims" bear in mind, there are hunddeds of thousands of comments on substack and reddit,et al, maybe millions about Christofascism and the white Christian nationalists, but hold the magnifying glass up to Islam, and be critical and honest, and your a racist bigot. If so then bite my rear end. I could care less. Truth is truth, facts are facts.
I am with you Susan. I am disgusted with the left these days. I was once a contributor to the Intercept and Democracy Now, but stopped two years ago when I noticed them as water boys for Putin. I am digusted with the Nation, as they too are water carriers for Putin. The owners and ediotrs are old line Marxists, Trotskyites, what the Brits called Tankies during the Soviet Invasion of Hungary in the 1950's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie
Surrender monkey's disgust me they don't deserve the freedom of democracy that enables them to subvert it, and in democracy's name yet.
I guess I sound like a despicable, but I am fully supportive of DEI,CRT, LGBT, and ending racism.
This just in the Supreme Court has decided that the rule of law is now in full support of the rule of trump. The Nations worst black day has arrived. The Supreme Court Justices are traitors. Are DJ needs to start taking them out as traitors one by one.
It seems they've already gone so far and destroying our democracy that they had no choice but to do this. The reason is they realize that if Trump does not win the next Democratic president will take them out one by one and all of their efforts will have been in vain and reversed.
Disagree Mssr Howard or is that Madam Howard, it doesn't matter. Biden has not the werewithal, the presence or disposition to do anything about the Supreme Court or tackle big business, religion, the culture war, even if he does, there is the problemo\f his council, his advisors, strategists, chief of staff, cabinet members and most importantly the mega donors to the Democratic Party.
I wish it was different, I sincerely do, but past prior performance is indicate of future performance., yet in a choice between the parties, there is no rational choice, the Republican party is outright full blown religious, corporate, racist fascist.
Putin has been clear with his intentions. To conquer as much of Europe that he can swallow and control. And his motivations are public. To grow his personal empire. See Browder and Magnitsky. NATO has ten times Russia's GDP. However, that economic dominance can be whittled away with help from his cultivated, corrupted MAGA Leader. Putin knows that MAGA really means "Make Russia Great Again". He claims Russia is threatened by NATO's growth. But the Vampire is not the victim.
We either vote for democracy (Biden) or for the end of the American Republic. Hold your nose if you must but keep our Democracy. That means voting for Biden in November.
Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen now to keep the word out to Wayne Co., MI because it is there that Trump will men, if the 100,000 Muslims who voted uncommitted stay away from the polls, they will have just signed their own deportation letters, and frankly they deserve the fruits of their obstinacy.
Yet another excellent and heart felt analysis by our dear Thom and two excellent impassioned comments. However, all wars are the product of unchecked massive human overpopulation, when one massively overpopulated nation attempts to invade and take the natural resources of another. When our primordial migratory Hunter-Gatherer ancestors lived in clan/band social groups and lived off the land, we numbered only a few millions worldwide, but, now, we are 3,000 times more numerous, so wars involving tens of millions and killing many tens of millions, just in the search for "lebensraum". The content of our criticisms depends on our perspectives, and most miss that from a greater distance, the god's eye view. He must be heart-broken. Our overpopulation/overconsumption driven climate collapse will soon cleanse the brutalized planet of its worst enemy, our species. Bringing another innocent child into this nightmare is the real crime.
I'm not sure overpopulation is the cause of this as much as it remains an issue for societies as a whole that have not been abIe to raise its' masses to become economicaIly, and intellectually astute. There comes a time in a societies growth and development that drastic measures pertaining to fairness, economic and intellectual equality need to be seriously addressed. If not, then as we are seeing now, though the house of cards can still right itself, if political forces remain in paralysis and we do not move to eradicate this situation. We will be a victim of a fallible human race. Once again we may be missing the boat. Authoritarianism and Fascism takes many forms. One such is unregulated Capitol !
But unchecked growth is a problem. a tree that outgrows its roots topples and dies.
As regards raising intellectual astute populations, try that in a land of Muslims and Christians. The intellectually astute are persecuted as heretics and infidels, and where there are no inhibitions are killed.
A great rand Doc Milashek, but not ALL wars are a result of overpopulation Europe and England were not overpopulated when kings raided each other to steal land and treasury.
The war with Mexico and Spain were not the result of overpopulation, and Putin didn't invade Ukraine because it is over populated. The U.S.A can fit inside Russia with room to spare and the population of Russia is 140.34 million, less than half that of the US and the US is not overpopulated either, lots of room to spread out.
But you point about overpopulation of the planet is well taken. 2,000 years ago the population of the earth on the Year 1 CE was 170 million, it took 1,000 years to double, it took another 800 years to double again, it took 100 years for it to reach 2 billion, it only took 30 years to reach 3 billion , it took 15 years to reach 4 billion, 8years to reach 5 billion, om Pct 1999 it reached 6 billion in Oct 2 2011, 7 billion, in Nov 22, 8 billion people.
wars,plaques, education of women have slowed it down, but it is still creeping up at a geometric rate.
If you confine most animals to a small area they will stop reproducing. A Gold fish will not outgrow it's tank, but drop them in a large pond. A fishery in France grew a 67 lb goldfish.
Sharks are the same, they won't outgrow their environment. Humans do, they are rabbits, nothing slows down the sex drive.
It does seem that while population has been exploding at a geometrical pace, it has slowed down a bit, only doubling every 11 years, bat that means the the Earth population will reach 16 million years by 2033.
16 million mouths demanding protein and carbs, demanding shelter,clothes, toys travel.
Gaia is not a cornucopia, natural resources are not renewable, except maybe water and we are polluting the water we drink with toxins and plastics, like we pollute the air we breath.
Half of the 8 billion have made the Earth unlivable for the other half, and then whine about climate migration.
We are an insufferable lot, and the instrument of our own destruction.
This exposé adds substance to what many of us have been sensing from the efforts of the non-stop Putin propaganda machine.
Counter messaging is very needed and should focus on the generations coming into their prime. Getting this message to those who will be here in 30 years is essential if they are going to have any hope of a decent future. I can only hope that this analysis is able to be repeated by those with a voice for the younger generations.
I just read a synopsis, evidently the protagonist Paul starts out as a reluctant hero and winds up as a ruthless dictator. same thing with Game of Thrones.
How many politicians started off with good intentions and wound up part of the animal.
Has anyone seen the TV Series Braindead, Some ant like critters from outer space, life in the cherry trees of D.C. and invaded the brains of sleeping senators and congressmen, and overnight they become a different person.
Every time I see Madam Lindsey I think of that series.
Reluctant but somewhat humble. I don’t know the entire arc of the story, but it wouldn’t surprise me - power corrupts! Perhaps that will become evident in another movie installment.
Sad to say, as a history major and life-long history buff, I knew all of this. That history rhymes is peculiarly true. Our crises seem to come in 80 year intervals—the Revolution, the Civil War, WWII. Not coincidental that each involved a war for our survival. Ironic that our contenders for POTUS are both essentially 80 (I’m 76, in the oldest part of the Baby Boom cohort). I fear the enemies of our country will succeed this time. I have immense respect for President Biden, and will support him, but the combined forces of the MAGAts, plutocrats, media and Russian sabotage are making it more and more likely that the Orange Excremental will return to defecate upon us even more fulsomely than he did the last time.
Vote blue, everywhere and for every office, and we may have some hope. Do not let the perfect be the enemy if the good. Do not let apathy lead you to sit this one out. Because if we go red, we’re dead, not only figuratively, but quite possibly, nay probably, literally as well. If my grandson did not need me so much (I have been the only adult male in his life since the day he was born), I would gladly depart this life, and the rise of TFG and the exposure of the hideousness of so many of my fellow “Americans” is a major part of why. But I won’t, and I cannot, will not, give up the fight for our values and against the ugliness that our very own Sauron embodies in his urge to destroy nearly all that we hold dear.
Being your senior by two years, I support you 100% in order to save this country for my 3-year old twin grandkids. We must motivate every possible voter to overwhelmingly defeat the orange abomination and give Jack Smith the time that SCOTUS has robbed from him to send that fecal matter to prison and indict, try, and convict all his co-conspirators, including Ginni Thomas!
Larry, I despise Ginni Thomas. Why is she allowed to be walking around free while there’s solid proof she participated in an insurrection.
More to the point, why is her husband making judgements about that insurrection?
Roy, well-stated. So good to see others who are looking at the times realistically.
Yes, we say, "vote blue." But to anyone out there listening , we need to be saying: Check your registration! The New York Times just finally caught up with Hartmann and Palast and Abrams about registration purging, nationwide. I wish I had it precisely, but in (at least?) one state "caging" only takes 30 days non-response for the challenger to go to the registrar and registrar is MANDATED to disqualify the voter. Guess who's getting disqualified. Many thousands over thin margins. Maybe the message has to be, first and foremost: They may have kicked you off! Check your registration!
Will the New Illustrious Dunderheads Lead us…
I certainly hope not. A minority, 19 Republican senators, opposed supplemental budgetary support of Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan.
Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) says that “several” House Republicans are willing to sign a discharge petition to force MAGA Mike to bring a national security supplemental measure to the floor for a vote. A simple majority can force a vote on a bill through a discharge petition, but such a measure is rare because it undermines the House speaker. With Johnson refusing to take up the Senate measure, Fitzpatrick and his colleague Representative Jared Golden (D-ME) have prepared their own pared-down aid measure.
Hope it works.
Thanks Daniel. All it takes are five Republicans and several means three. I hope there are two more, but have heard nothing else about the discharge petition. Now that most primaries are over, are their any Republicans who give a shit about anything other than themselves,? I wonder.
I heard it takes about a month. I hope it works too.
I just posted, day late, about the best war movie I ever saw: "Battleground." 1949 The end of the movie is, a supply drop and then reinforcements come at the last gasp. The chaplain speech about 1:40 in is freakishly relevant today. Will fascism be defeated, or will we all go down?
I remember that Movie and have kept hoping it would come up on TV as an oldie. It was my favorite for years. is it on youtube?
Understandable because I didn't even get in the same day, they (?) put my first post way, way down. Thought you might be interested. By golly, who knows what's on YouTube? : Because the cast was so interesting, today on TCM I watched the best war movie I ever saw: "Battleground," 1949. It's a "desperate holdouts" drama about Battle of Bastogne, WWII.
About an hour forty minutes in, a chaplain gets a soliloquy on the question: "Was this Trip Necessary?" He begins by reviewing the futility of appeasement. Then he talks about never letting a super man, or super race, or super idea get strong enough again to make it necessary to defend world freedom. (paraphrasing as best I can - no DVR or back up) Then he says: "...and don't let anyone call you a sucker (!!!!!!) for defending the world against fascism." Trump. Putin. Appeasement. Then the "trip" is necessary. Then only war is left.
I watched battle ground in the theater, Saturday matinee. Didn't remember it was 1949, the best war movie ever. I looked for it for years.
I have Dish, just did a search, found it, and it is downloading as we speak. Thanks.
There is another war movie I would like to see, but don't know the name. I was 6 it was 1945, I don't know if it was before or after V J day, but Dad took me to the cinema on base (Quantico)
and we watched a movie, my hero, Smokey, flew off the deck of a carrier,into the ocean. I was crushed.
The Republicans are not just holding up fascists as their best friends, they are fascists themselves .
They’ve elevated Donald Trump as the ‘chosen’ one.
Which can be distressing to people that have any respect for the truth at all.
The Truth is that Donald Trump is a traitor to the United States of America. He tried desperately to overturn a free and fair election to enable his regaining of power.
For whom, why Donald J Trump of course. Donald Trump is a mentally ill man .
He lies so much it’s impossible to recall if I’ve ever heard the truth from him.
I’m going to take a wild guess. NO.
I’ve never heard the truth from Trump. I don’t know if he even knows the truth . I suspect it’s worked for him because. , face it. He has no conscience . It’s pushed out by his delusions of grandeur, his Malignant Narcissism
The Supreme Court has also been on a tear to advance fascism
They’ve protected Donald from reality by distorting the obvious meaning of the 14 th amendment , because dear lord we can’t have Donald upset .
Besides it also suits the Leonard Leo’s and Harlan Crowes of this world. Can’t have that.
Everyone needs to wake up and look at the truth. It’s right in front of us .
Donald s love affair with Putin and Mike Johnson’s suck up love affair with Trump is not allowing us to fulfill our obligation to Ukraine.
They were brutally attacked by Putin another power hungry dictator.
The majority of people ( real people) not the most corrupt monied people )
are wanting support for Ukraine .
The Republicans do not care. They do not represent any of the majority in this country.
So we’re going to have to care more than ever.
We need to work in every way we can to gain financial and military help for Ukraine. Now.
It never ceases to amaze me how scholars and the news media want to avoid comparatives of America today with the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. The reality appears to be that be it neo-Nazism, or white supremacy, or misogyny or antisemitism, the worst beliefs; the ideology and tenets of fascism, have once again smitten millions of bigots, fanatics, grifters, and mentally ill masses in this nation.
While they represent about 35% of the voting electorate, they are led and fueled by around 150 far right fascist loving billionaires, who clearly stand to realize their wet dream ultimately of first establishing a fascist phase and then moving to what Yanis Varoufakis tags as “Techno Feudalism.”
We as a nation forget all too readily that Amerika provided much of the underlying legal means to deny immigrants in flight safety from oppression. That America made segregation common and legal practice. That we first moved to eliminate “useless eaters” and sub humans from the pure white gene pool. And of course the Jews as the killers of Christ had to be eliminated along with all, as Trump states “vermin.”. All of this bile, hatred and fear is motivated with a literal religious fervor achieve a once mythic past, a past when White Aryans ruled.
You may want to logically turn away from my statements as hyperbole, but as brave historians like Timothy Snyder have shown us “history instructs us” to see where we went wrong and ideally prevent it in the future. The problem is one of our propensity to avoid the unpleasant past and replace it with opioid dreams of Oxycontin and insights from QAnon.
The media yes, even the pundits are afraid for their jobs and lives, two exceptions Rachel Maddow, and Joy Reid.
The rest of them are useless horse race commentators.
Rachel Maddow: "Prequel." The Truth is Out There! Problem is, highly insulated selective consumption.
Simply further proof that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. The GOP has been trying to erase history for quite a while now. They need to look it up, they are echoing the nazis from the early 40s.
Sharon, those, like us who have studied history are doomed to repeat, because morons like the MAGAts, Hillary's deplorables, haven't and aren't interested, all they want is white Christian male dominance.
You would think the people would reject Putin puppies of the Repub leadership. I cannot believe my eyes that there are American's that agree with the invasion of another free country in Europe by Russia or any other nation. Fascism is truly alive and well in the world. Putin puppies all.
Manipulation of religion is a factor. I was treated to an account of how Zelinsky was plundering the (Orthodox) churches in Ukraine. (Family birthday event, I spoke up for Ukraine, whoops!) Following week, photo of Biden and Zelinsky in perfectly intact cathedral between beaming Orthodox priests in full regalia. Russian-speaking church connection was sucking Putin propaganda straight from the source. Probably more on the Russian side, if they think Zelinsky is enemy of God.....
What is the end point? The point is the affirmation of international law and with it the sovereignty of national borders. The end point is when all of the Russian armaments are removed from the sovereign territory of Ukraine. If Russia refuses to remove its implements of war, we will destroy them.
The bad news is that contemporary technology and propaganda tactics are something that Goebbels could only dream about exploiting for his master. However, the good news is that with the same 21st century knowledge and technological capabilities, we can motivate enough citizens to replace the Dunderheads (that jump for their oligarch masters) with competent leaders who will serve to fulfill their Constitutional purpose.
The problem is that small d democrats are not fanatic true believers, like the right wing..
The left is in disarray with too many groups pushing their own agenda, and flipping the bird to anyone who does join in their quixotic crusade, whereas the right is united, and the plutocrats gleefully use the culture war of the right, and the culture warriors of the right, gleefully support the plutocrats that finance them.
The right wing could care less about the economy, it is on the democrats that the party wise men and women, can't grasp ahold of that salient fact, They apparently honestly believe that if they pound the "you are doing good drum, because of IRA and build back better, because the numbers are favorable (to wall street, not Joe six pack) that, this is enough to win.
That is assuming the fight is at the cerebral level, the pre frontal cortex, it is not it is at the gut level, the lizard brain or amygdala.
And that is why Democrats are a minority party in government, though people with democratic inclinations outnumber those with authoritarian inclinations., but you can't' teach an old dog new tricks, too many entrenched political "experts" in the Democratic pary.
William, thank you for your fine description of the fundamental problem we must overcome if we are to fix the insanity of our democracy (“The problem is that small d democrats are not fanatic true believers, like the right wing.. The left is in disarray with too many groups pushing their own agenda, and flipping the bird to anyone who does join in their quixotic crusade”). As always, you nailed it.
We have millions of well-meaning citizens who have been motivated to seek redress of their personal grievances, and they tend to be self-focused in their endeavors to get their grievances redressed. Regardless of how unruly their behavior might be, I believe that the only sane response is to find a way to herd the cats and get them to join together in the effort to build the kind of democracy that the citizens of other countries would choose to have (if they have the choice).
In order to make this as easy as possible, I submit that everyone who has been so aggrieved that they sacrifice their own time and money to get their grievances redressed should be the target audience for a very important message.
These already activated citizens must understand that the reason that they have grievances in the first place is because of the powers of corporate personhood (i.e., money is speech and corporations are people). Basically, they need to know that all the really bad things done by humans in our world are either caused by, exacerbated by, or exploited by the powers of corporate personhood. In other words, everybody who has an important grievance with our government shares the same umbrella grievance.
Whether someone gets engaged to redress their grievances by petitioning or running for office or writing to their elected officials (or the local paper), or peaceably assemble (or any of the other ways to get “involved”), there are two things that are almost certainly true about their efforts.
First, they were inspired to get active because the morbidly rich sociopaths that wield the powers of corporate personhood somehow did things adverse to their rights and/or our communities’ interests.
Second, it is highly unlikely that their efforts will get their grievances redressed satisfactorily.
Therefore, the question becomes, how can we motivate 12 million already activated people to collaborate on submitting a simple petition to every elected official and candidate for office demanding that they support an amendment to end those powers?
Did you ever wonder if America’s critical mass of ill-educated racists that comprise the MAGA cult would have become ill-educated racists if our public education system had been managed and funded properly (or at least as well as in the 50’s and 60’s)?
Even if the “conservative” brains tend to rely more on their amygdalas than their prefrontal cortexes for decisions, they should still be capable of critical thinking skills and eschewing their cult of “personality.” At least that could be the case if we built and managed a role model public education system. But that won’t happen as long as money is speech and corporations are people.
Finally, I think that although the authoritarian cultic influence can get out the vote to support their master, they are still a decided minority. If there was no voter suppression or cheating or election fraud this fall, I wouldn’t worry so much. But when you're a regular reader of The Hartmann Report, it’s hard to forget how tenaciously corrupt the oligarch/grifter class has become.
It's not just Republicans -- the peace movement has also fallen hook, line, and sinker for Russian propaganda regarding Ukraine. Anti-war activists on the left have formed alliances with isolationists and appeasers on the right. Which is weird, because leftists used to consider themselves internationalists. On social media, Grayzone is basically indistinguishable from RT. Max Blumenthal praises Tucker Carlson and parrots Russian propaganda at the UN. Scott Ritter goes off on crazy tangents in Chechnya. Chris Hedges and Medea Benjamin hobnob with the "Z" crowd. Matt Taibbi carries water for Elon Musk. Seymour Hersh throws Russian idioms into his anonymously sourced stories. Dennis Kucinich is on the advisory board of the Ron Paul Institute. I could go on and on. I'm pretty sure this also happened in the 1930s when Hitler was on the rise, and during the 1939-41 period when the Soviet Union was collaborating with the Nazis. Now it's happening all over again, and it's disheartening.
Often "anti-establishment" groups can be co-opted by bad actors. Often these groups struggle to develop and dissemiante their messages so a little "help" from somewhere is welcome. Often that help is from bad actors.
The Green party in Europe is a good example of a Stasi supported project for many years. Interestingly, this seems to be fading in electoral attractiveness as the facts are better known. The abject failure of the Greens in the current German coalition has shown that governing is very different than making noise about what is wrong. It would not surprise me to see the Greens fall below the 5% parliamentary threshold and be expelled from government in the next election in Germany.
Sinema the fraud, first registered with the Green party, when that produced no results, she became a Democrat.
I think you are right about the bad actors. Democracy Now has been taken over by Muslims, and I see Saudi Arabian influence behind it.
Before someone tried to get on my case about Islamophobia, or "I know some perfectly nice Muslims" bear in mind, there are hunddeds of thousands of comments on substack and reddit,et al, maybe millions about Christofascism and the white Christian nationalists, but hold the magnifying glass up to Islam, and be critical and honest, and your a racist bigot. If so then bite my rear end. I could care less. Truth is truth, facts are facts.
I am with you Susan. I am disgusted with the left these days. I was once a contributor to the Intercept and Democracy Now, but stopped two years ago when I noticed them as water boys for Putin. I am digusted with the Nation, as they too are water carriers for Putin. The owners and ediotrs are old line Marxists, Trotskyites, what the Brits called Tankies during the Soviet Invasion of Hungary in the 1950's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie
Surrender monkey's disgust me they don't deserve the freedom of democracy that enables them to subvert it, and in democracy's name yet.
I guess I sound like a despicable, but I am fully supportive of DEI,CRT, LGBT, and ending racism.
This just in the Supreme Court has decided that the rule of law is now in full support of the rule of trump. The Nations worst black day has arrived. The Supreme Court Justices are traitors. Are DJ needs to start taking them out as traitors one by one.
It seems they've already gone so far and destroying our democracy that they had no choice but to do this. The reason is they realize that if Trump does not win the next Democratic president will take them out one by one and all of their efforts will have been in vain and reversed.
Disagree Mssr Howard or is that Madam Howard, it doesn't matter. Biden has not the werewithal, the presence or disposition to do anything about the Supreme Court or tackle big business, religion, the culture war, even if he does, there is the problemo\f his council, his advisors, strategists, chief of staff, cabinet members and most importantly the mega donors to the Democratic Party.
I wish it was different, I sincerely do, but past prior performance is indicate of future performance., yet in a choice between the parties, there is no rational choice, the Republican party is outright full blown religious, corporate, racist fascist.
Putin has been clear with his intentions. To conquer as much of Europe that he can swallow and control. And his motivations are public. To grow his personal empire. See Browder and Magnitsky. NATO has ten times Russia's GDP. However, that economic dominance can be whittled away with help from his cultivated, corrupted MAGA Leader. Putin knows that MAGA really means "Make Russia Great Again". He claims Russia is threatened by NATO's growth. But the Vampire is not the victim.
And our corporate media, and the national democratic party have their head in the sand, for fear of blowback and defunding.
We either vote for democracy (Biden) or for the end of the American Republic. Hold your nose if you must but keep our Democracy. That means voting for Biden in November.
Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen now to keep the word out to Wayne Co., MI because it is there that Trump will men, if the 100,000 Muslims who voted uncommitted stay away from the polls, they will have just signed their own deportation letters, and frankly they deserve the fruits of their obstinacy.
Let’s hope they will figure it out before November!
Yet another excellent and heart felt analysis by our dear Thom and two excellent impassioned comments. However, all wars are the product of unchecked massive human overpopulation, when one massively overpopulated nation attempts to invade and take the natural resources of another. When our primordial migratory Hunter-Gatherer ancestors lived in clan/band social groups and lived off the land, we numbered only a few millions worldwide, but, now, we are 3,000 times more numerous, so wars involving tens of millions and killing many tens of millions, just in the search for "lebensraum". The content of our criticisms depends on our perspectives, and most miss that from a greater distance, the god's eye view. He must be heart-broken. Our overpopulation/overconsumption driven climate collapse will soon cleanse the brutalized planet of its worst enemy, our species. Bringing another innocent child into this nightmare is the real crime.
I'm not sure overpopulation is the cause of this as much as it remains an issue for societies as a whole that have not been abIe to raise its' masses to become economicaIly, and intellectually astute. There comes a time in a societies growth and development that drastic measures pertaining to fairness, economic and intellectual equality need to be seriously addressed. If not, then as we are seeing now, though the house of cards can still right itself, if political forces remain in paralysis and we do not move to eradicate this situation. We will be a victim of a fallible human race. Once again we may be missing the boat. Authoritarianism and Fascism takes many forms. One such is unregulated Capitol !
But unchecked growth is a problem. a tree that outgrows its roots topples and dies.
As regards raising intellectual astute populations, try that in a land of Muslims and Christians. The intellectually astute are persecuted as heretics and infidels, and where there are no inhibitions are killed.
A great rand Doc Milashek, but not ALL wars are a result of overpopulation Europe and England were not overpopulated when kings raided each other to steal land and treasury.
The war with Mexico and Spain were not the result of overpopulation, and Putin didn't invade Ukraine because it is over populated. The U.S.A can fit inside Russia with room to spare and the population of Russia is 140.34 million, less than half that of the US and the US is not overpopulated either, lots of room to spread out.
But you point about overpopulation of the planet is well taken. 2,000 years ago the population of the earth on the Year 1 CE was 170 million, it took 1,000 years to double, it took another 800 years to double again, it took 100 years for it to reach 2 billion, it only took 30 years to reach 3 billion , it took 15 years to reach 4 billion, 8years to reach 5 billion, om Pct 1999 it reached 6 billion in Oct 2 2011, 7 billion, in Nov 22, 8 billion people.
wars,plaques, education of women have slowed it down, but it is still creeping up at a geometric rate.
If you confine most animals to a small area they will stop reproducing. A Gold fish will not outgrow it's tank, but drop them in a large pond. A fishery in France grew a 67 lb goldfish.
Sharks are the same, they won't outgrow their environment. Humans do, they are rabbits, nothing slows down the sex drive.
It does seem that while population has been exploding at a geometrical pace, it has slowed down a bit, only doubling every 11 years, bat that means the the Earth population will reach 16 million years by 2033.
16 million mouths demanding protein and carbs, demanding shelter,clothes, toys travel.
Gaia is not a cornucopia, natural resources are not renewable, except maybe water and we are polluting the water we drink with toxins and plastics, like we pollute the air we breath.
Half of the 8 billion have made the Earth unlivable for the other half, and then whine about climate migration.
We are an insufferable lot, and the instrument of our own destruction.
This exposé adds substance to what many of us have been sensing from the efforts of the non-stop Putin propaganda machine.
Counter messaging is very needed and should focus on the generations coming into their prime. Getting this message to those who will be here in 30 years is essential if they are going to have any hope of a decent future. I can only hope that this analysis is able to be repeated by those with a voice for the younger generations.
I saw Dune II this weekend. Plenty of authoritarian overtones to remind you of the madness before us. 70M tRumpists think this is a good idea, FFS!?
BTW…The movie is a masterpiece! Checks all the boxes of the movie-making craft.
I just read a synopsis, evidently the protagonist Paul starts out as a reluctant hero and winds up as a ruthless dictator. same thing with Game of Thrones.
How many politicians started off with good intentions and wound up part of the animal.
Has anyone seen the TV Series Braindead, Some ant like critters from outer space, life in the cherry trees of D.C. and invaded the brains of sleeping senators and congressmen, and overnight they become a different person.
Every time I see Madam Lindsey I think of that series.
Reluctant but somewhat humble. I don’t know the entire arc of the story, but it wouldn’t surprise me - power corrupts! Perhaps that will become evident in another movie installment.
Brilliant. Brilliant historical context.
Thank you, sir.
Job 5:14: "They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night"