The use of repeated baseless investigations seems like an extension of the Karl Rove tactic of repeating a lie over and over again until it becomes accepted as truth. Rove didn’t invent it, but he certainly made extensive use of it. And it seems to work. Just look at how Republicans kept trickle down economics alive when all evidence has been to the contrary. The curious part is that the conservative base doesn’t just allow the GOP to promote false narratives, they seem to understand it’s their duty to amplify them. So there is a positive feedback loop of strategic lying taking over the conservative playbook. The bigger the lie, the louder it gets and the more it gets repeated. Unless there is a serious penalty for creating lie storms like this, they will only continue to propagate.
Perhaps not. The Brits also invented the Concentration Camp. South Africa based Apartheid on Canadian treatment of First Nations. Hitler took much of his eugenics theories from Americans. No equivalence of course but a base from which to build.
Actually, the Spanish first coined the phrase concentration camp during Cuba's fight for independence against Spain in the 1890s. Sadly, around the same time Canada was rounding up indigenous peoples for "reeducation". Links below.
In Cuba the Spanish started in 1896 and they were Re-Concentration camps for cuban civilians caught up in the revolution. The Canadians were doing their dastardly deed in 1880s.
However it might be useful to look a little closer to home for the origins of the system:
1758 establishment of the Brotherton Indian Reserve in Southern New Jersey.....the first "Concentration Camp" in US
1763 Royal Proclamation setting aside lands for Native Americans.....George 11 who was then ruler of the 13 colonies
1830 Indian Removal Act....President Jackson at work....Trail of Tears to present day Oklahoma....indian territory
1834 Non-Intercourse Act....the third leg on the reservation system stool.
Thus was set in motion the Native American Concentration Camp system well befor the Spanish copied it in Cuba.....And we'll not even get into the Japanese/Chinese and Guantanamo!
I’ve read that Hitler did consider and model his Eastern Europe expansion and genocide based off our own manifest destiny strategy. I can’t remember where I read that. I’ll try to find that history. What a powerful revaluation it was to me then. To see the parallel, that our country’s past has made immoral policies against humanity.
At some point in my long ago youth in the early 1970's, I was picking things at random off the shelves in my community college library, where I had a work-study job because even the $88 to $100 a quarter tuition was out of my financial league, and came across a book about Margaret Sanger. As I read about her ideas for how to purify the human race through selective breeding, I became more and more disturbed. It wasn't too much later that I learned about Indigenous and Black women being unwittingly sterilized by doctors in government sponsored programs that continued within my own time period. The two years I spent at community college reading anything that caught my eye did more to dismantle any ideals I still had about this country's "greatness" than all of my years in higher education from that time one.
Hitler's Nazis researched the American mistreatment of African Americans to use as a model. One difference is that white supremacists murdered in order to terrorize and keep control of non-white people in order to profit from their labor. The Nazis went for all-out genocide. But even the Nazis couldn't believe the reports of separate drinking fountains, separate store entrances and such; they thought that stuff was too far out to be true. You can find details in Isabel Wilkerson's excellent book "Caste."
In a land of free speech unfettered by a Fairness Doctrine, truth is subjective perception. Permissible is not the point—every voter gets to decide what is truth. We rationalists take science based fact for granted. But as Karl Rove said in 2004,
“People like you are still living in what we call the reality-based community. You believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality. That’s not the way the world really works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you are studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors, and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
All the autocrats are looking for is a level of skepticism in the social institutions that destabilizes democratic process.
Heather’s mission with her Letters is to counter the false narrative, and we have seen her messaging now amplified on an ongoing basis by more than one million readers.
Penalizing what we perceive as lie storms is a slippery slope for identifying who was caused harm by whom. But hopefully Congress will find its way to administer consequences for its members’ seditious conduct. We will not forget their names.
Ellie, your link raises a question as to the veracity of the attribution that Rove indeed stated the above. However, the importance, imho, is that the quote reads true to form as the conservative playbook on framing (stating) the narrative for America.
Immediately after reading your piece, I wondered, “Where have liberals been?" Conservatives create the society they desire, and we remain mostly passive, reading and watching the news.
Liberals have NOT conscioulsy been making ‘the news’, outside of street protests. For instance, in todays’ remarkable column by Dr. Richardson, she uses a term I have never heard before, ’The Sedition Caucus’.
Were liberals aware of the dynamic known as ’framing,’ we - the readers here - would repeat this term ad intiitum, to our Congresspeople and Senators tomorrow, and to our local media (newspaper comment pages, talk radio, suggestions to local NPR news editors for a story on ‘The Sedition Caucus’, etc.). The Sedition Caucus must become known far and wide.
What scares me is that Coach/Senator Tuberville said in an interview after his election that the the 3 branches of government are the House, the Senate, and the Executive.
Aren't these people breaking their oath of office? Every time they side with Trump against, fact and truth. Aren't they acting again st the well-being of the country?
Yes! But their allegiance is not to their constituents. Their allegiance is to the PAC money first. Their loud mouth Drumf supporters are a charade, a distraction to all.
He has violated every rule known to man and that goes along with the moniker he gave himself, “The Grim Reaper”. A person on these letters called him McMurderer which fits him to a tee.
Finally! A pithy, accurate, effective 3 word message for the party of lost messaging to grab hold of and repeat relentlessly each remaining day until the Inauguration. The Sedition Caucus: Bravo, Professor!
Now, the morning of Jan 3rd, there are 12 senators, 12 disciples of sedition. Thank you for posting their names. Forever may they be Renne red in shame.
Fortunately, the Karl Rove's of this world have not currently lived up to their own propaganda. They have consistently showed themselves to be unable to act and organize their way out of a brown paper bag full of Trumps huff'npuff.
The only way out of this in a truly democratic society where free speech is treasured is to educate the people to a level where they can judge for themselves the iniquities of putative politicians and rabble rousers.
Attemps by governments to take the decision about what is truth and what is not lead inevitably to censureship influenced by political ideology and punishment of "offenders". As long as media and public arguement are not totally controlled by similar ideologically charged groups and competition is fostered, encouraged and rife in the availability, analysis and discussion of information, theories, opinions facts, rumours and lies....and they are labelled as such by everyone..... then we can manage to progress.
In the meantime, a little humility is required of us all .....and care and attention concerning science as we know it. Science is mostly defined as what we can measure and "prove"..... and Quantum Physics tells us that the measurer influences the measured.
"In the meantime, a little humility is required of us all .....and care and attention concerning science as we know it. Science is mostly defined as what we can measure and "prove"..... and Quantum Physics tells us that the measurer influences the measured."
Great insight; I really appreciate this.
Science is constrained by the questions we ask, which are controlled by our existing knowledge, as well as our abilities to receive and detect data!
While science exists to follow "facts" (as we define them); history relies on a variety of interpretations of facts as folks seek context and reasons
In the end, much of our "knowledge" tells us more of how we think and feel over time versus the actualities that shape the world around us.
Pick a subject that you want to believe in, whatever, and you can find supporting schools of thought, at the very least, if not actual facts. I think most humans are guilty.
Re:"In a land of free speech unfettered by a Fairness Doctrine, truth is subjective perception." I always go back to "language matters." Luntz is the pollster, GOP strategist, and word wizard who helped shaped the GOP agenda's narrative over the last 30 years...since W. I researched GOP strategies that got the GOP where it is today: the tail wagging the dog. I always point to Frank Luntz's HUGE influence on GOP messaging which packaged the GOP agenda into a narrative that appealed to and galvanized popular support and kept Republican candidates and elected representatives on message. He shapes the narrative by "testing language and finding words that will help his clients sell their product or turn public opinion on an issue or a candidate."(Frontline, PBS 3/23/2007) Luntz is brilliant at manipulating language to make idiological points palatable, even desireable by the emotional, non-rational, effective spin word choice provides. Luntz's interpretation of polling results x framing the GOP agenda playbook has been a key factor in the Republicans' success at persuading voters to vote GOP even when that vote is against the voters' interest. Persuasion via propaganda can be perceived as less than truthful though effective. As illustration, in 2010, Luntz was awarded the Politi-Fact Lie of the Year decree for his phrase "government takeover" to characterize healthcare reform. He said,"Takeovers are like coups. They both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom." The Wall Street Journal responded that the citation reflects a trend in reportage "to recast all political debates as matters of lies, misinformation and 'facts,' rather than differences of world view or principles." PolitiFact concluded that "it is inaccurate to call the plan a government takeover."(WSJ, 12/23/2010)
Luntz's formulating a political game plan appears in the stunning pdf document I found at dailykos.com. It lays out Luntz's MO advising the GOP on illegal immigration policy. I'm surprised this document is out there cuz you'd think it would be a classified FYEO document equivalent to an NFL team's Super Bowl game plan. It orchestrates, choreographs, composes, scores a whole operatic plan of attack for a government initiative to win over public support. "Respect for the Law & Economic Fairness: Illegal Immigration Prevention." I'd call it the GOP playbook on "framing the narrative" as Frederick mentions below.
The Dems are always in reactive mode as described in your Rove quote. They have been totally flat-footed, tongue-tied, sitting on their hands, two-left-bungling feet, too little too late. Always playing catch-up. They lack strategists of Luntz's caliber. To win over hearts and minds, "framing the narrative" can be transparent, honest, trust worthy, persuasive, factual without employing questionable machinations. I'd go for the heart to appeal to "the better angels of our nature."(Lincoln, Inaugural Address, 3/4/1861)
Martha, I appreciate your review of Luntz, the key fabricator.
In lieu of liberals' general ignorance of farming, we therefore are reactionary in most every effort. Since Reagan and 1980, I believe the only successful movement from the left has been the marriage equality movement. Clinton and Obama were principally our ‘reaction’ against the Bushes.
Wow. Thank you, Martha, for taking such a deep dive and concluding with good forward looking direction about “framing the narrative” to appeal to our “better angels.”
Totally agree with you about Dems being “flat-footed, tongue-tied, etc....”! I said that same thing earlier about Dens are lousy at messaging. Always have been.
Indeed! If it hasn't got 5 or 8 zeros after the number these days it goes unnoticed...despite our salaries and pensions having only a very few zeros to take to the bank. In the 50s the figure actually meant something to people. Now it's the blind hope to join the 1%!
That is the real question! John 13:38 contains the voice of Pilate as he questions Jesus before condemning him to death: "What is truth?" We continue to grapple with this question when faced with different "truths" in our politics. Perhaps "by their fruits" we will know who is the truth bearer and who is not.
Permissible truth or alternate facts seem to be a work in progress while the Trump illusionists press on. They will create more violent dysfunction and there will be interesting consequences but the inauguration will happen and sanity will gradually be regained.
I remember when news was factual, tv was imaginary theatre, and politics was about reasoned debate and compromise. Today, like in Russia “Nothing is true and everything is possible”. Never before has democracy faced so great a challenge.
And journalists actually did their job rooting out facts and keeping their opinions for the Editorials page. The media now effectively considers itself as part of the governing elite rather than a countervailing power.
It helps to remember that many of our newspapers are now owned by hedge fund managers who have cut staff to the minimum and are seeking a profit by forcing click bait to the front of the "page" at the expense of journalism.
Mayer and Wright both work for the New Yorker, so I think they have the kind of support for investigative work that is different from a daily newspaper gig. I was also remember that Ronan Farrow had to go to the New Yorker because his network news department at CBS wouldn't publish the Weinstein revelations which, in the end, won him a Pulitzer. I do not doubt that there are fine reporters, I just feel that those who have bought the newspapers have dismantled them in many ways.
Your welcome sir! I wonder if this community could compile a list of the best journalist. Our integrity all star journalist team. They support truth, we support them with likes and shares.
News just broke about Drumf’s call to Ga Sec State. Moments later the WSJ is pumping a China story about alternative Covid-19 orgins. Almost instantly drawing the attention away from the real story of the day.
And now they have gotten better at using actors and props in their charade. From the brooks brothers rebellion from Florida 2000, today they have the Proud Boys, militia groups, and lots and lots of guns.
The GOP base amplifies a lot of old ideas because they have been convinced that the left is a huge menace. That is why the base's enthusiasm for Republican candidates and policies does not require them to like those candidates and policies. They just have to have a paralyzing fear that a Democrat might get elected, and believe that any Republican victory would protect them against the far more dangerous Democrats. The Democrats use a very similar strategy, making their base fear Republicans.
I think trickle-down economics works exactly as it was intended, albeit not as it was advertised to the middle class and working class. And that is precisely why the Republicans will continue to do everything they can to keep it going.
Once again I arise to the onset of a severe headache after reading the first paragraph or two of this column. Two points in particular set me off today.
First - Who exactly are the representatives of representative government representing? "Biden’s transition spokesperson ... called their efforts a “stunt.” He isn’t wrong." There is no public groundswell of concern about election fraud and to the best of my knowledge there never was been.
Trump introduced the notion of fraud BEFORE he was elected the first time, screaming about RIGGED elections. Had the media been more demanding of evidence at the time perhaps the "issue" would have been muted. He introduced it again well before the general election this time and again the media abetted the claim by failing to demand that he show his cards. In both cases the Democrats failed to push back forcefully, presumably because they thought he had no chance in 2016, and because they overestimated the degree of voter fatigue with his antics in 2020
So these "representatives" seem to have chosen to die on a hill of their own making, despite the 60+ legal challenges having produced nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. They've manufactured a case, couched in the gravitas of "precedent." It's a doomed effort that benefits no one but their image in Trump's eyes. It only serves as justification for their own future forays into greater voter suppression.
Second - What cat's got the Democrats' tongues? Taking the high road is morally admirable and has yielded exactly nothing. George McGovern vs Richard Nixon? Too liberal. Jimmy Carter as contrapoint to the corrupt Richard Nixon? One and done. Michael Dukakis after 8 years of Reagan? Blown out, wins only 10 states, yet "improves upon" the results of the Democrats in the previous two elections.
The GOP has thrown chaff in the radar of Democrats' messaging for years through the dirty tactics of Lee Atwater, the groundless yet persistent hearings on Benghazi, and flooding the media with the noise of Clinton's emails. Coupled with the media vascillating between "balanced" coverage and the "entertainment value" of Trump, the Democrats have failed, yet again, to adopt tactics to parry the GOP's obstructive strategies. They seem powerless to either borrow from the GOP playbook (and its associated stench) or to just become more adept at developing aggressive approaches to counter the GOP by uncovering its individual and collective failings to serve its constituents and the country as a whole.
I could go on but it's only 5:00 AM and it's been an exhausting day already. As comedian Wanda Sykes said of Black people in America, "we need a better PR person."
What Scott said. Truth 'dat. Why aren't the Dems/Progressives/whatever playing the same game? They need a louder voice and yes a good PR staff. I suggest the 'follow the money' strategy. Boycott the funders and this stuff stops pronto. Everything is a business model - this isn't about political philosphy - or even ideology. Or as they say down here in the deseert, "There's Benjamins in bullshit".
The Republicans use repetition as a weapon. If every Congressional Democrat went to twitter and FB and issued a simple statement of condemnation of what damage these Senators are doing to our government and it was retweeted/ reposted, it would flood both platforms. It seems like a simple act, but could make a big difference.
Thanks, Margaret. I agree, and I just included your idea -- with credit -- in emails to Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and to Rep. Rick Larsen, in which I expressed my frustration with the Democratic Party's pattern of rolling over and playing dead and exhorted them to DO SOMETHING!
I think Scott’s point is that the Democrats have been playing dead for too long. I don’t think he advocates dirty tricks like the Republicans do. Instead I think we need to be vocal, stand up, get publicity and all those kinds of things. Retreating into our proverbial shells and hoping the threat goes away doesn’t work.
I agree. I'd like to see someone (or several people) repeatedly screaming their outrage at these fake investigations, and at ddt & co's greedy, power hungry, sadistic, murderous, seditious behavior. And for the media to cover her/him widely.
And that will come only from us as we must awaken those who put in those seats! We are the ones who must inundate the masses with our protests and messages. Whether it be by letters, postcards, texts, phone calls, showing up at their offices, etc...we must do something. No more complacency!
Elaine, a point I didn't make that some think I'm suggesting is to act the same way as the GOP - underhanded, barely legal, and with malice. But the Dems seem to feel that if they act intentionally that they'll somehow lose voters. The GOP is very good at spinning the story that any action by Dems is "politicizing" some issue or another.
I'm not certain of all the tools the Dems may have at their disposal but they've got to quit walking on eggshells and go nose to nose.
I despise the rise of Twitter as the means of political communication. If they had to actually get in each other's faces there'd be more negotiation and less sniping.
They are representing their Party and their Donors. We're living in an oligarchic kleptocracy now not a democratic republic. Party and Patrons beats Constituents and Country every time now.
I've been working with WolfPAC here in Texas to do get a Constitutional amendment on election funding reform. I certainly agree that Citizens United is legalized corruption and totally in conflict with one person one vote.
Here's the link to Wolf-PAC: https://wolf-pac.com/ I think there are groups in every state. Great bunch of people. We do citizen lobbying at state capitols to get a resolution (the same one in all states) through the state legislatures for a Convention of States limited to election funding reform. It has passed in 5 states which mean we have 34 more to go. Persistence is everything!
It's time for the Progressives to break away from the Democratic party and go their own way. We need more than two parties to keep this ship afloat and the DNC has proven through the last two elections at least that they don't have the chops to do more than try to sustain the status quo, which is really just the status woe for most Americans.
It’s pretty difficult to contest blather, Scott. How are you supposed to respond to a threatening lie before the fact? Not sure that becoming like the seditious Republicans is the answer.
Patricia, I'm not advocating becoming "seditious" at all. I'm not completely certain what options exist for doing things like enforcing subpoenas, as was a problem during impeachment. I understand there are constraints when you're the minority party, but it seems like there's always a concern that if the Dems ruffle feathers that somehow they'll be penalized by voters. I guess my point is quit walking on eggshells.
I'm not related to Stephen Krasner that I know of. I do know there's a Stephen Krasner in Atlanta who had a similar Gmail address and my mom would send things to him. He got a little touchy about the whole thing but I explained the issue and it's all good.
I agree that we have to stop walking on eggshells. I’m afraid that the future of this country is at stake and could unravel much more quickly than I ever imagined. Like maybe this coming Wednesday. The pundits all say these efforts by Cruz and co. will lead to nothing. I’m no longer sure of that.
Stephen Krasner is a political scientist at Stanford who was also in Bush II administration.
“Walking on eggshells” is a good way to describe what the Dems have done for way too long. We have severely gotten rambled on and must fight fire with fire!
Oh, if we could only take a break from this seditious nonsense and rest peacefully for a day. Our work can never be done as informed, engaged citizens if we are to protect ourselves from these autocrats and preserve our democracy. None of this is just about Trump and what he has created. He has been their useful idiot. As we now know, there are other autocrats in waiting - more polished and even more duplicitous. I read a very informative, revealing thread about Josh Hawley on Twitter tonight and how he has been working toward this moment since he was a teenager. We need to know the “Hawleys” and their agendas. You can read the thread here (no Twitter account required): https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1345464374593519617.html?fbclid=IwAR2kh5s9MrPpJtrOBjGjJ2YaD6PVdXecZKX4GQjRAkgdGbgsUEeFsfVYVL4
All I had to read was about Hobby Lobby and then got really angry. Yes, he has been planning his stage presence for a very long time. Ugh...another religious right zealot.
TC, you echo my thoughts. There are several similar "smart, but even more dangerous" candidates waiting in the wings for 2024. Tom Cotton, for example.
....both very slick, attractive young senators with more intelligence in their little finger than the Mango Moron has in all his bulk. And...they have a guaranteed multi-million $ treasure chest.
The big question: can you name any Democratic candidates for 2024?
We can re-elect the president, or (as I suspect), elect the new Vice President as President. Since she was my first choice this time around, that would be something i would like a lot.
It’s time to right the ship. I’ve been in business long enough to value the force multiplier of diversity in decision making and execution. I’ve seen plenty of male counter parts f’ things up so badly. Leadership best served is a combination of judgement, integrity, humility, courage, creating interdependence. There is no valid reason we can’t have a Madam President.
Every time we declare someone unelectable, we make them so. Do you think she’s unelectable because she’s a female POC? And that now we are forever doomed to only nominating straight white males in the hope of attracting republicans? I for one hope not.
Lynell, Hobby Lobby is a national craft store. The underlying fact is that the owners are the religious “right”. When the Affordable Care Act was approved, they refused to provide health insurance for any birth control methods for their employees based on...their religion. I am sending you a link to ACLU’s 2014 article about them. They are horrible!
I also refuse to shop there. One thing about Hobby Lobby that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is that the owners bought Iraqi antiquities, smuggled out of Iraq after the U.S. invasion, and labeled as "clay tiles" and "ceramic tiles," which were ultimately destined for Hobby Lobby's owner's Museum of the Bible. They were purchased for $1.6 million. Once their origin was revealed, Hobby Lobby had to forfeit them and was fined $3 Million. Interesting that they claim moral superiority by refusing to pay for employees' insurance if it covers contraception, but have no problem furnishing their Museum of the Bible with stolen antiquities. Perhaps they believe it's acceptable behavior if Muslims are anti-Christian.
Our power also lies in a list of all the businesses that should be boycotted to bring these "actors" to their knees. And then who gets hurt...the working poor.
Lynell....and unfortunately (imho), the Catholic Little Sisters of the Poor, who run many nursing homes for seniors, joined Hobby Lobby in the fight against providing benefits which fund contraception for their employees. This provides one more avenue for legalized discrimination by churches or groups claiming religious grounds for such action.
The Becket Fund solicited the Little Sisters (who are on the hook for going along with them) in throwing hissy fits about the contraception mandate in the ACA. I was HR director for a Catholic diocese at that time...watching all those men, whose every need is taken care of, huff and stomp around about contraception. 🤯
Apologies for my oversight, Patricia. I thought the page on the Thread Reader app included the author’s Twitter bio. It was posted by Lindsey Simmons, a Missouri native and Harvard Law grad, who was the Democratic candidate for Missouri’s 4th Congressional district (she lost to the Republican candidate). You can learn more about her here: https://lindseysimmons.com/
Thank you so much. I could tell from the posts it was a candidate, but wasn’t clear on who, wher, when. Compounding that, I’m not a twitterer either. We ALL need to update our educations it seems! 😉
Thank you HRC, for pointing out the fact that modern elections, especially the 2020 election, are probably the most honest in our history.
The Republicans know they cannot win a fair, open, honest election. What the Sedition Eleven are doing now, what the Republican Party has been doing over the last forty years, is to undermine small d democracy in our country, but not by old school, third world stuffing of ballot boxes. Without voter suppression, gerrymandered congressional districts, the Electoral College system, ginning up investigations into nothing by the ongoing coordinated mis-information campaign of the talk radio/Fox News propaganda industrial complex, meaningless congressional votes, (how many votes to repeal ACA? 40? 50?) the Republicans know they would become politically irrelevant. They are masters at getting enough people to vote against their own best interests to remain politically viable.
In other words, Republicans do all they can to avoid democracy and the democratic processes of government. This is sedition. This is treason.
I am glad to see The Lincoln Project identifying some of the companies that donate to these Republicans. Calling out their corporate supporters and boycotting their businesses might make them pay attention to the majority.
Yes, but it really should be Democrats doing the calling out. I love what The Lincoln Project has accomplished but the people behind it are either Republicans or ex-Repubs. Democrats need to start pointing fingers with these reveals.
I have been a member of the Lincoln Project since it’s inception, our ads and focus has been to reveal the truth about the threat to our democracy. I was a Republican of the John McCain variety, the Republicans today bear no resemblance to that. I am an American veteran that knows what it means to take an oath to our constitution. I like most of you, watched with horror the predetermined outcome of the trial in the senate that could have spared us so much pain and suffering ,in order to do that they had to violate their oath to the constitution. We are not going to forget their names, I have already voted against the two Georgia senators that are in the runoff here this week. Anyone that has ever sat on a jury knows that it is unacceptable to predetermine a verdict before the trial, that’s precisely what we as a nation watched happen. In my opinion our country comes way before any political party so it has been easy to wholeheartedly support Joe Biden and his agenda for much needed change
As you already know, I am grateful for what you and others have done and are doing to focus on the wrongs committed by quite a few in the Repub Party. As a person who has always stood up for injustices, you have to understand that I am suspicious of your overall motives. Will you leave your party as Steve Schmidt has done? What is it that keeps you there?
I have left the party and registered as a democrat for the first time in 40 years, there are many things I don't agree with, but for me first and foremost is the health and wellbeing of the nation I fought to defend, everything else is secondary. I personally believe that Joe Biden will make a fine president as he feels the same way about our nation as I do. He won't be perfect, no one is, but just think about what a difference having a good intention will have on anything he tackles, it'll be like watching the sun rise after a long bitterly cold night, I'm up for that.
Yeah, it turns out the differences you and I likely have over policy that could take us from zero to screech in 60 seconds aren't what's important. What's important is, are you a member of the Democracy Party, without which we can't have the policy disagreements. We're both members of the same party, and for the same reasons.
Then those are the ones we do not want in office. I happen to sometimes like AOC, Ayanna Pressley, and others when they challenge the status quo. It is not acceptable that those we have elected to these seats, aren’t listening or reacting. Boot them out!
Mary Anne, do you have a list of corporate Republican supporters whose businesses we can boycott? I would very much like to share such a list on social media. TIA
Thank you so much, Mary Ann! Your info is most helpful. I'll share it. People going underground to hide their donations reminds me of ultra conservative dark money spearheaded by the Koch brothers & co. Ugh!
There has been a movement from Democratic candidates to refuse corporate PAC money. Not all Democratic candidates have adhered to that, but many have. I don’t know of any Republican candidates who have made the same commitment. In any event, I look at who is supporting the less honorable candidates or elected officials, even when those individuals’ dishonorable actions or divisive policy positions have been revealed.
I tolerate the almost constant requests from Democrats for small, grassroots donations, knowing that they are trying to avoid corporate PAC donations. They are up against a behemoth money flow on the Republican side.
I don't have the data, but I think that other than Bernie Sanders, dems claim that they are not accepting PAC money and have been supported by small donors, but Open Secrets shows otherwise.
I'm not making that assumption, nor is it part of my question. I want to know which corporations donate heavily to ultra conservative Republicans, so that I can boycott those corporations because I find their goals and values pernicious. It's about what I can do to help create a better, more just and equitable world.
Thank you for calling that to my attention, Bruce. I hadn’t heard about his involvement until now. What an ill advised move on his part! At the very least, this should end his political career.
Thank you Dr. Richardson, for once again enunciating so well the current political situation.
I am furious at the Senators and Representatives who are perpetrating this sham, and shameful, fraud. I am furious that the current President has refused to peacefully transfer power. I am furious that the current Vice President, ever the faithful lap dog, is now egging on these people.
These Senators and Reps talk about wanting to satisfy the concerns of their constituents. Apparently they do not realize that some (many?) of their constituents are part of the 85 million plus people who voted for Presodent-Elect Biden and Vice President -Elect Harris. They are, as you have so often written about, deligitimizing our votes - we are the mudsills who don't deserve to vote, in their opinion, and certainly don't deserve to elect who we want to steer our country forward. They won't succeed, but their actions are so damaging. "Sedition Caucus" indeed.
AND they are doing all of this while hundreds of thousands of us are dying from a pandemic. Disgusting.
I am exhausted by this never-ending election, but I won't sit down and shut up either. January 20th can't come fast enough.
What can or should we the people do about this latest mockery of our government? I am in GA and I am sure Tuesday will turn into a circus. I am so disgusted by these white men’s antics to gain personal power that I want to do something. I work Voter Protection now to help assure the frightened electorate that they can vote and have their vote count but it just doesn’t seem like enough. These men should not be holding a public office.
This is a felony, my friends. Incitement to violence is a federal crime. I don't understand why DAs are not arresting these people. It isn't just the complicity of the media, which love to focus on scandals if they involve women as the baddies (for instance the appalling graft, corruption, and bribery of rich people to get their kids into colleges--most people are aware of only a couple of these cases, which indicted [and jailed in the former instance] Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, but the rest of the iceberg is mostly male). The entire political and legal system is designed to ignore what morons like Cruz and Co do on the basis of "white boyz will be boyz" (and yes, I know some female enablers of the patriarchy are in there too). Instead of simply laughing at them, we need to demand that they be treated like other criminals and prosecuted and punished for their crimes.
I hold the op-ed columnist (and Pulitzer alumna) Maureen Dowd in contempt because of her relentless campaign against the Clintons, whom she hates with a level of vitriol that makes it, well, weird. I don't like them either, but Dowd did a lot to make the Cheeto palatable to some NYTimes readers because they bought into her animus. Her whining for the last four years and her poor-meism infuriates me--and a lot of other readers who persist in pointing out that she helped get the deranged corn chip elected. The media need a reboot, but so does the entire political system, and "professional' politicians need to be indicted and imprisoned for that to happen. Bring it on.
I don't know how Biden and Harris are holding up under this onslaught of fascist propaganda. I don't know why there seem to be only two principled pols in the Gormless (Russian) Operative Party left--and they (Sasse and Romney) are unreliable actors at the best of times. The cognitive dissonance is absolutely blowing my mind.
The current effort by the Sedition Caucus will likely fail, but it is a prologue to the behavior we will see in the coming session of Congress and throughout the land.
This behavior will be cloned in State Houses controlled by Trumpists, parroted in allied media outlets, and spread far and wide through social media. The threat to Constitutional Democracy is manifest and the likelihood that far-right extremists will take to the streets to mirror the behavior of their elected representatives is high.
I’ve begun researching the issues, looking at Biden’s agenda and the likely challenges. Climate, taxes, policing reforms – for example – will all be met by objections, many of which will be constructed from the cloth of Trumpist propaganda and not from math, science, or historical experience. The other area of great concern is the growth of far-right extremist groups and their symbiotic relationship with Trumpist officials such as Cruz & Co.
The fronts on which the struggle against the forces of darkness will be waged are many and varied – we all need to be engaged.
Unworthy they are indeed. As long as groups like the Sedition Caucus can use tens of thousands of false accusations to create a lasting impression of non-existent election theft, this maneuver will repeat every time Republicans lose the Presidency.
Lies will always travel faster than the truth but I'm relieved our institution's speed bumps slowed them down 60 times in great fashion. The only cure for the power of ignorance and lies is the wisdom that comes from people being informed of the truth.
Social media and a complicit Press give lies validity but newsletters such as this one, not podcasts or YouTube videos, can erase pseudo-certainty with undeniable truth grounded in fact.
That last sentence of the closing paragraph sums it up so precisely:
"Democracy depends on a willingness to transfer power peacefully from one group of leaders to another. By revealing that they refuse to do so, the members of the “Sedition Caucus,” as they are being called on social media, are proving they are unworthy of elected office."
We need to get them voted out of office. We cannot relax our vigilance until democracy is secure once more. Indeed, perhaps we and future generations can never again assume that democracy will survive despite a "few" corrupt self-serving legislators, because it has turned out that so many Republicans are cut from the same cloth. Not that every Democrat is guaranteed to be morally straight, but these past 4 years under 45 seems to have brought out a lot more sycophantic morally broken Republicans than I ever expected to exist.
Thanks as always to Dr. Heather for tipping over the rocks and shining her light on the evil that would've remained hidden. Rest well! 💜
Right? Wake up call. I’ve had a friend since I was 19 who never voted at all and now I can’t get her to stop talking about all of this for the last four years.
Properly applied, modern wood glue forms a bond between two pieces of wood that is stronger that the wood itself. And so it is with the “movement conservatives”. The glue is poverty, which gives permission to generations of under-education, flourishing of beliefs in the fanciful and the vile. There is one true religion, there is one best color of skin, there is one best government, there is no good government, unfettered capitalism will eventually provide the best living for all people, and there is no right to privacy in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
Given enough stress, the wood fails. Or in this case the muscle, bone, heart, brain and soul fails. There is civil war ongoing in the conservative movement. In the case of the men like Cruz, Harley, Cotton and the fellow acolytes, their brains and hearts simply cannot comprehend their version of truth being exposed as false.
Millions of self-aware people of all persuasions have seen the lie that the government is the enemy. Good government is the essential ingredient in a massive society. The young generations will not accept racism, sexism, systemic injustice, nor generational poverty in any group of humans. I believe(and I pray) that djt and the current version of conservatism is the nadir for our journey. Let us stand witness to their demise.
Truly outrageous how thoroughly Trump has corrupted the Republicans in both Houses of Congress. I never expected anything non-corrupt from Trump, but have been astounded over and over again, even when his grip on power ought to be loosening, that Trump has the GOP politicians scared of the shadow of this charlatan and his "base." -- Thank goodness for the simply ordinary degree of ethical behavior from state level GOP officials (esp the Secretary of State and Governor in GA, but many others nationwide). I respect them for standing up to Trump and his minions even if I disagree with them on policy.
He didn't "corrupt" them. It was easy for him to take over as he did because they were already far right radicals (i.e., fascists) . They're not afraid of him - they agree with him.
Exactly. Trump’s lack of decorum, his heartless demeanor, sexist and misogynistic rhetoric simply gave others permission to ack the same. Trump is the biggest bully in the room and all the bully-wannabes have always been there but been kept in check. Not so much now.
I agree TC. They were already corrupt long before tRump meandered into their party. Remember, tRump was once a Democrat. It is so very sad that this election has devolved into the swamp along with the Republican party.
Steve, initially, I, too, admired both Gov. Kemp and Brad Raffensperger for pushing back at Trump, and I emailed Raffensperger regarding his courage. However, in the last few weeks, Secretary Rafffensperger, apparently dismayed that his political career in Georgia might be threatened, has decided that mail in ballots here should be confined to only those who have a "reason" for voting absentee - because of being elderly, ill, anticipated travel, or other "good" reasons. He has also decided to purge thousands of registered voters from the rolls ahead of next Tuesday's Senate runoff. That effort has been thwarted by a judge (Stacey Abrams' sister), and hopefully won't happen - unless the Republicans raise objections of "conflict of interest" because of the relationship with Ms. Abrams.
As for Gov. Kemp, while he has been less odious during his administration than I'd anticipated, he has danced to the Trump tune, in that he initially refused to wear a mask, and has declined to mandate masks, claiming that a mandate wouldn't be enforceable, and resisted all calls to shut down businesses that attract large gatherings of customers. Additionally, he was infuriated by Atlanta's mayor for mandating masks. To some extent, that has contributed to Georgia's horrifying number of COVID cases. His voter suppression, as Secretary of State, during his campaign against Stacey Abrams for governor also shades his legacy and dilutes his current efforts to stand up to Trump.
Granted, neither of these men can be compared to the current list of Trump sycophants, but as pressure has mounted and the Trump base has threatened, both of these men are backpedaling. It is clear that neither can be credited with moral courage.
Stacy Abrams is a boss! The first time I heard her speak, I knew she had the right stuff and bright future. She should have won GA. If she was the Gov, she would have saved so many lives from Covid.
Most definitely. I've been told that she turned down a cabinet position because she wants the Governorship in 2 years, after being cheated the first time. She'll make her mark nationally, too, in the future. She has worked tirelessly and intelligently to stop voter suppression here, and if Warnock and Ossoff win, she'll be the reason.
Nancy -- Thanks for this background information, some of which I was unaware of, esp the attempted voter suppression by Brad R. With respect to mask wearing, I totally disagree with Governor Kemp's anti-mask actions-policies, but as much as I disagree with him on this, it is not a decision that threatens or undermines our democracy in the way many GOP-ers are attempting to do (and thankfully, unsuccessfully thus far).
Hi, Steve. The current attempts of undermining of our democracy certainly register much higher on the Richter scale. However, in addition to the Trump administration's total bungling of the pandemic response, Kemp's pandering to Trump in his initial refusal to take precautions, combined with the large Republican presence here (still), has resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths. Ultimately, these actions contribute to the multitude of negative issues that require time, attention, and boatloads of cash that Biden will have to navigate.
Trump bungled the response, wanted to put the burden on the states, and since the initial outbreaks were in blue states, cared not a whit about the victims. Compounding his callousness was his fear that the markets would take a hit and damage the economy, his claim to fame.
Honestly given Kemp’s record as Sec of State, I am amazed that he has stood his ground to Trump. Something made him change, not totally, but enough to hopefully give us. Fir run off election. But I do wonder about his change as he was all over Trump at the beginning of the shutdown and Pandemic and was right up there supporting freedom notto wear masks and open back up early.
I think it had a lot to do with so many suburban women leaving the Republican fold and voting Democratic, frightening Shotgun to amend some of his stances.
They weren’t corrupted particularly I think they swallowed the Kool-Aid. They see opportunity somehow. I don’t really think there is opportunity but they think they see it. Pence thinks he has a crack at future presidential bids, 🙄he’s done as far as I can see
Steve, I mean this sincerely (no snark, here) you've got to get over being outraged. Here is why:
1. The problem isn't Trump et al., it's 74M peoples' economic and political disenfranchisement.
2. Trump Republicanism works (74M voted for him), even though it doesn't (real actions helping millions of people); it works because it's founded on the principles of marketing and advertising (do you need a 1/3 of the stuff you end up buying; do you continue to buy c**p you don't need?)
3. Josh Howley or another much more intelligent and sophisticated individual than Trump, will refine Trump Republicanism for 2024; they have to, they're sitting on political Gold.
I also think your first point is critical to understand. The Dems stopped talking to this economic group long ago. They are paying a huge price, including losing House seats all down the ticket. They still remain unclear about what they value and who they value.
1. Both polemics Dem/Repub. value only 1 thing - power.
2. The American public simply does not understand the game.
3. Proof of #2? - The body politic continues to elect a millionaire class in the expectation that this millionaire class will represent their interests.
4. On the most surface of surfaces, if one considers #3 it makes Zero sense.
5. There are exceptions; Katie Poter comes to mind.
Here's the thing, our system is fundamentally corrupt, we allow ourselves to not be represented and instead get sucked into the left/right canard and its political theater (in all fairness, all political systems are gamed and corrupt).
You can't create solutions if the problems aren't even being discussed...
Criticism is easy, someone, much smarter than I, help me out with thinking on the re-creation of a way for people to govern civil and civic affairs...
Yes, Jan, the whole thing lives in my #1. Yet from the NYTs to FOX, is any "News" source really addressing this causality in a meaningful way?
Of course not. It's too complicated for the medium, and it doesn't give good demographics for the ad dollars or subscriptions.
This stuff is not complicated; it's a situation of no one in power, calling out power. And, why would they?
The simple fact is those we "elect" have more of a vested interest in the maintenance of the status quo than in representing people with no power.
This is very simple to understand. Yet... we continue on with the same non-sense. Every four years, it's going "To Be New Day in America", lol...
Now, criticism is easy. I have no idea what the solution is, other than, there will be no solutions until the real issues are discussed in the popular media-sphere.
And, this is not going to happen with any scale approaching FOX or the NYTs
Point taken. No question that the marketing and advertising is effective, and especially effective at getting m,any (not all) of the 74M voters to vote against their own self-interests. -- One point of clarification. I did not write that I was (personally) outraged. I wrote that it is "Truly outrageous how thoroughly Trump has corrupted the Republicans..." I meant that the situation is so outrageous that political corruption on such a large and undemocratic scale could even happen and that others really should notice and do something about it. It comes down to a lack of critical thinking, but even that relies upon a set of agreed upon facts... which is fundamentally the ability to think critically about and to question information sources.
I empathize, Steve, I sincerely do. And, I don't disagree.
I will say the Republicans have been thoroughly corrupt, long before Trump came along (Nixon, Reagan and 7-ish Cabinet members indicted; Bush and the Iraq invasion- "why exactly were we in Iraq, again"?; but the same can be said for Democrats; Clinton deregulated the financial markets in '97/8-ish and this led to the 2008 crash; Obama continued illegal wars and on and on...)
It's the system. It thoroughly corrupts all players. Left/Right is a canard.
The American public isn't going to wake tomorrow and become critical thinkers. In the same breath...people are not stupid; they're being manipulated, yes. Us v. Them and divide and conquer are the oldest strategies in the book.
We can't persuade people from a starting point of, "...you're stupid and don't know how to critically think...".
Civilizations have their rise and inevitable declines; we're declining and I don't think there is much, other than bandaids, to be done about it.
It's a shame because we do know better, now.
And we'll all type on, in the comments section of our favorite media bubble...
A little humour, if I may, from the irrepressible Andy Borowitz (another "rock" I rely on to get through all this!). In the spirit of Andy Borowitz, a friend of mine reminded me of a quote about Cruz from the much-missed Al Franken: "You have to understand that I like Ted Cruz probably more than my colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz."
1 year mew Yorker is having a sale. 50% fir the year. Worth it to have the Jan issue summarizing 2020 pandemic response. It’s reall good article. “The plague year” by Lawerence Wright
Thank you for calling attention - with data - to the role of the NY Times and other publications in endlessly repeating and recycling lies, conspiracy theories, tweets, and other mayhem from Trump and the Kamikaze Caucus of the Republican Party. Their aim plainly being to disrupt, not govern, the daily bouts of hyperventilating concern and outrage just add fuel, and credibility, to their scorched earth politics. Of course the "news" must be reported - but they might fulfill their journalistic obligations by removing coverage of these antics to small, discrete sections in their publications that readers might access (or not) at their leisure.
I agree. There is a difference between reporting news and sensationalizing events to elicit clicks. Margaret Sullivan of the WaPo writes often about this, and the NYT is one of the worst.
1. Harry Truman was right back in 1948 when he said "The only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies." It's only more true today than it was back then. They have been scum for a looooooonnng time.
2. Richard Hofstadter was right 67 years ago to define these people as "pseudo-conservatives" and describe them thus:
It can most accurately be called pseudo-conservative — I borrow the term from the study of The Authoritarian Personality published five years ago by Theodore W. Adorno and his associates — because its exponents, although they believe themselves to be conservatives and usually employ the rhetoric of conservatism, show signs of a serious and restless dissatisfaction with American life, traditions and institutions. They have little in common with the temperate and compromising spirit of true conservatism in the classical sense of the word, and they are far from pleased with the dominant practical conservatism of the moment as it is represented by the Eisenhower Administration. Their political reactions express rather a profound if largely unconscious hatred of our society and its ways — a hatred which one would hesitate to impute to them if one did not have suggestive clinical evidence.
From clinical interviews and thematic apperception tests, Adorno and his co-workers found that their pseudo-conservative subjects, although given to a form of political expression that combines a curious mixture of largely conservative with occasional radical notions, succeed in concealing from themselves impulsive tendencies that, if released in action, would be very far from conservative. The pseudo-conservative, Adorno writes, shows “conventionality and authoritarian submissiveness” in his conscious thinking and “violence, anarchic impulses, and chaotic destructiveness in the unconscious sphere. . . . The pseudo conservative is a man who, in the name of upholding traditional American values and institutions and defending them against more or less fictitious dangers, consciously or unconsciously aims at their abolition.”
I agree. Ever since I learned that Barry Goldwater's 1960 book The Conscience Of A Conservative was ghost-written by L. Brent Bozell Jr., William F. Buckley Jr.'s brother in law, I've been convinced that the whole conservative "movement" was a gigantic fake, a pseudo-intellectual system of reactionary non-thought that has ended up doing a great deal of harm to the US.
but it has done no harm to a segment of the 1%.....on the contrary and governments have effectively acted as willing accomplices ever since. I'm just in the process of reading a book by Australian economist, William Mitchell...."Reclaiming the State"....and his arguements for the omnipresent role of the Western governments in creating the free movement of capital, free trade, delocalisation of jobs systems to the detriment of the 99% is clear. He has other arguements about funding governments by printing money on which the jury is still very much "out" but the rest is coherent and persuasive.
Re: "governments have effectively acted as willing accomplices": I recall Clinton's comment as globalization took off that "there's no stopping it" or words to that effect as though it were a tectonic-plates-shifting phenomenon. One major effect we all remember was that US factories closed causing joblessness and its consequences particularly across what became the Midwest rust belt. US companies shifted sourcing the manufacture of goods abroad cuz of cheap labor and no environmental or labor regulations that cut into profits--initially to Mexico along the Texas border, but then left Mexico high and dry as even cheaper labor in Asia beckoned. I recall it seeming unconscionable at the time that US factories would close with nothing done by government trade policy and measures available to it to counter the cataclysm thereby giving corps free rein to collapse US manufacturing. Jobs abroad did raise the standards of living elsewhere and free market economics benefited in reducing poverty world-wide. Yet its overall effects are complicated with economists arguing that it increased inequality rather than reduced it. In the US, especially since 1980 Reaganomics, the income inequality gap has grown to obscene proportions between the 1% haves and the have-nots and continues unabated.
Under Trump, 87% of his tax giveaways will flow to the top 1% of earners. Biden's plan (on his official website) raises income taxes on the wealthy from 38%> 39.6%. Really? Yes, with the economic crisis all kinds of temporary, as- long-as-needed tax credit, tax relief measures are planned to help working Americans. And corp earnings and investment taxes on the wealthy will have them pay "their fair share." They should be skewered. And...39.6% looks like baby steps when giant steps are called for.
I think I wandered off topic but your opening got me started.
He's coming at the "globalization problem" from the radical left saying that the left has been complicite with capital in setting up the current system and the depoliticization of economic policy to anchor the unfetterered control by capital of the means of wealth generation. He suggests that they have been hoodwinked into supporting the supra-national economic decision making structure (like the EU), which limits the power of the nation state and consolidates the disadvantage of the salaried worker.
He advocates a return essentially to the 50s/60s use of Keynesian macro economics, as opposed to the monetarist school, and the return to national control of capital flows etc. He also is a "big state" advocate of the old socialist school and believes that the state should dominate the means of production, nationalize the financial institutions and return to class warfare, Marxian ideological references. He suggests that this will not run against their current preoccupation, or fascination, with individual and minority rights and would massively increase their attractiveness.
The big state option in the post-globalization economy most certainly doesn't attract me as we've already tried that and we suffered from the glaring incompetence of those in control. This suggests Mitchell has a short memory, despite him being about my age, and as is usual cuts some corners for the sake of ideology. This doesn't improve my opinion of such parts of the political spectrum as they seem only to consider the people as "victims" or as an amorphous mass.
If I understand you correctly, Mitchell wants to see locally- (not globally) controlled Marxist states. I don't find the idea appealing, but suppose for a moment that it works as he hopes. That still does not create a framework for deciding how to deal with climate change, which appears to require a globalist approach.
Given our experience of "marxian states" the idea doesn't appeal to my sense of freedom. It's all very well to propound that the theory was badly applied but.....Stalin killed more people than Hitler and East Germany needed a wall and the threat of death to keep the people in!
Otherwise he suggests that such problems as climate change can be effectively handled by inter-national Government collaboration between two or more groups of bureaucrats and politicians. Cloud cuckoo land would adequately sum up my opinion of such a possibility.
And L. Brent Bozo was such a whack job that Buckley threw him out of the "conservative (bowel) movement" in 1972. Buckley himself was a charming piece of shit.
The use of repeated baseless investigations seems like an extension of the Karl Rove tactic of repeating a lie over and over again until it becomes accepted as truth. Rove didn’t invent it, but he certainly made extensive use of it. And it seems to work. Just look at how Republicans kept trickle down economics alive when all evidence has been to the contrary. The curious part is that the conservative base doesn’t just allow the GOP to promote false narratives, they seem to understand it’s their duty to amplify them. So there is a positive feedback loop of strategic lying taking over the conservative playbook. The bigger the lie, the louder it gets and the more it gets repeated. Unless there is a serious penalty for creating lie storms like this, they will only continue to propagate.
Karl Rove got it from Joseph Goebbels
Who learned it from the Brits in WWI
No equivalence between Goebbels and ‘the Brits'
Perhaps not. The Brits also invented the Concentration Camp. South Africa based Apartheid on Canadian treatment of First Nations. Hitler took much of his eugenics theories from Americans. No equivalence of course but a base from which to build.
Actually, the Spanish first coined the phrase concentration camp during Cuba's fight for independence against Spain in the 1890s. Sadly, around the same time Canada was rounding up indigenous peoples for "reeducation". Links below.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com
https://rabble.ca/babble/news-rest-us/captive-canada-first-nations-first-captives-genocidal-precedents-canadian-concen
thank you. I did not know that. I just knew the British used them against the Boers
In Cuba the Spanish started in 1896 and they were Re-Concentration camps for cuban civilians caught up in the revolution. The Canadians were doing their dastardly deed in 1880s.
However it might be useful to look a little closer to home for the origins of the system:
1758 establishment of the Brotherton Indian Reserve in Southern New Jersey.....the first "Concentration Camp" in US
1763 Royal Proclamation setting aside lands for Native Americans.....George 11 who was then ruler of the 13 colonies
1830 Indian Removal Act....President Jackson at work....Trail of Tears to present day Oklahoma....indian territory
1834 Non-Intercourse Act....the third leg on the reservation system stool.
Thus was set in motion the Native American Concentration Camp system well befor the Spanish copied it in Cuba.....And we'll not even get into the Japanese/Chinese and Guantanamo!
I’ve read that Hitler did consider and model his Eastern Europe expansion and genocide based off our own manifest destiny strategy. I can’t remember where I read that. I’ll try to find that history. What a powerful revaluation it was to me then. To see the parallel, that our country’s past has made immoral policies against humanity.
I have read this, too, Ted
Here is a link that talks about it.
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172422/hitlers-american-model
At some point in my long ago youth in the early 1970's, I was picking things at random off the shelves in my community college library, where I had a work-study job because even the $88 to $100 a quarter tuition was out of my financial league, and came across a book about Margaret Sanger. As I read about her ideas for how to purify the human race through selective breeding, I became more and more disturbed. It wasn't too much later that I learned about Indigenous and Black women being unwittingly sterilized by doctors in government sponsored programs that continued within my own time period. The two years I spent at community college reading anything that caught my eye did more to dismantle any ideals I still had about this country's "greatness" than all of my years in higher education from that time one.
Hitler's Nazis researched the American mistreatment of African Americans to use as a model. One difference is that white supremacists murdered in order to terrorize and keep control of non-white people in order to profit from their labor. The Nazis went for all-out genocide. But even the Nazis couldn't believe the reports of separate drinking fountains, separate store entrances and such; they thought that stuff was too far out to be true. You can find details in Isabel Wilkerson's excellent book "Caste."
Yes but!!!!!......who decides what exactly is the permissible truth?
In a land of free speech unfettered by a Fairness Doctrine, truth is subjective perception. Permissible is not the point—every voter gets to decide what is truth. We rationalists take science based fact for granted. But as Karl Rove said in 2004,
“People like you are still living in what we call the reality-based community. You believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality. That’s not the way the world really works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you are studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors, and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
All the autocrats are looking for is a level of skepticism in the social institutions that destabilizes democratic process.
Heather’s mission with her Letters is to counter the false narrative, and we have seen her messaging now amplified on an ongoing basis by more than one million readers.
Penalizing what we perceive as lie storms is a slippery slope for identifying who was caused harm by whom. But hopefully Congress will find its way to administer consequences for its members’ seditious conduct. We will not forget their names.
https://www.spin.com/2017/09/the-national-karl-rove-response/
Ellie, your link raises a question as to the veracity of the attribution that Rove indeed stated the above. However, the importance, imho, is that the quote reads true to form as the conservative playbook on framing (stating) the narrative for America.
Immediately after reading your piece, I wondered, “Where have liberals been?" Conservatives create the society they desire, and we remain mostly passive, reading and watching the news.
Liberals have NOT conscioulsy been making ‘the news’, outside of street protests. For instance, in todays’ remarkable column by Dr. Richardson, she uses a term I have never heard before, ’The Sedition Caucus’.
Were liberals aware of the dynamic known as ’framing,’ we - the readers here - would repeat this term ad intiitum, to our Congresspeople and Senators tomorrow, and to our local media (newspaper comment pages, talk radio, suggestions to local NPR news editors for a story on ‘The Sedition Caucus’, etc.). The Sedition Caucus must become known far and wide.
The Sedition Caucus
Sen. Cruz
Sen. Johnson
Sen. Lankford
Sen. Daines
Sen. Kennedy
Sen. Blackburn
Sen. Braun
Senators-Elect:
Lummis
Marshall
Hagerty
Tuberville
What scares me is that Coach/Senator Tuberville said in an interview after his election that the the 3 branches of government are the House, the Senate, and the Executive.
Don't forget adding Senator Hawley, as he's a ringleader!
Bruce, indeed. I just read the twitter thread about him. Very scary.
Aren't these people breaking their oath of office? Every time they side with Trump against, fact and truth. Aren't they acting again st the well-being of the country?
Yes! But their allegiance is not to their constituents. Their allegiance is to the PAC money first. Their loud mouth Drumf supporters are a charade, a distraction to all.
YES they are!
Check out McConnell violating oath of office in impeachment proceedings.
https://www.citizen.org/article/violation-of-oath-of-office-by-sen-mitch-mcconnell-r-ky/
He has violated every rule known to man and that goes along with the moniker he gave himself, “The Grim Reaper”. A person on these letters called him McMurderer which fits him to a tee.
CNN's Tapper called them "The Sedition Caucus". Biden should hire him.
Finally! A pithy, accurate, effective 3 word message for the party of lost messaging to grab hold of and repeat relentlessly each remaining day until the Inauguration. The Sedition Caucus: Bravo, Professor!
CNNs Jake Tapper coined it. Biden should hire him.
Yes, Bill Haggerty, NOT EVEN YET A SENATOR! I guess his election, too, should be investigated.
Now, the morning of Jan 3rd, there are 12 senators, 12 disciples of sedition. Thank you for posting their names. Forever may they be Renne red in shame.
Hope is eternal!
Fortunately, the Karl Rove's of this world have not currently lived up to their own propaganda. They have consistently showed themselves to be unable to act and organize their way out of a brown paper bag full of Trumps huff'npuff.
The only way out of this in a truly democratic society where free speech is treasured is to educate the people to a level where they can judge for themselves the iniquities of putative politicians and rabble rousers.
Attemps by governments to take the decision about what is truth and what is not lead inevitably to censureship influenced by political ideology and punishment of "offenders". As long as media and public arguement are not totally controlled by similar ideologically charged groups and competition is fostered, encouraged and rife in the availability, analysis and discussion of information, theories, opinions facts, rumours and lies....and they are labelled as such by everyone..... then we can manage to progress.
In the meantime, a little humility is required of us all .....and care and attention concerning science as we know it. Science is mostly defined as what we can measure and "prove"..... and Quantum Physics tells us that the measurer influences the measured.
"In the meantime, a little humility is required of us all .....and care and attention concerning science as we know it. Science is mostly defined as what we can measure and "prove"..... and Quantum Physics tells us that the measurer influences the measured."
Great insight; I really appreciate this.
Science is constrained by the questions we ask, which are controlled by our existing knowledge, as well as our abilities to receive and detect data!
While science exists to follow "facts" (as we define them); history relies on a variety of interpretations of facts as folks seek context and reasons
In the end, much of our "knowledge" tells us more of how we think and feel over time versus the actualities that shape the world around us.
Well said, Stuart.
Pick a subject that you want to believe in, whatever, and you can find supporting schools of thought, at the very least, if not actual facts. I think most humans are guilty.
At least 71 million of them.
I have continuously smelled Karl Rove and his tactics throughout all of these bits of insanity and deceit.
I hold your truth to be self-evident, Ellie...thanks!
Re:"In a land of free speech unfettered by a Fairness Doctrine, truth is subjective perception." I always go back to "language matters." Luntz is the pollster, GOP strategist, and word wizard who helped shaped the GOP agenda's narrative over the last 30 years...since W. I researched GOP strategies that got the GOP where it is today: the tail wagging the dog. I always point to Frank Luntz's HUGE influence on GOP messaging which packaged the GOP agenda into a narrative that appealed to and galvanized popular support and kept Republican candidates and elected representatives on message. He shapes the narrative by "testing language and finding words that will help his clients sell their product or turn public opinion on an issue or a candidate."(Frontline, PBS 3/23/2007) Luntz is brilliant at manipulating language to make idiological points palatable, even desireable by the emotional, non-rational, effective spin word choice provides. Luntz's interpretation of polling results x framing the GOP agenda playbook has been a key factor in the Republicans' success at persuading voters to vote GOP even when that vote is against the voters' interest. Persuasion via propaganda can be perceived as less than truthful though effective. As illustration, in 2010, Luntz was awarded the Politi-Fact Lie of the Year decree for his phrase "government takeover" to characterize healthcare reform. He said,"Takeovers are like coups. They both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom." The Wall Street Journal responded that the citation reflects a trend in reportage "to recast all political debates as matters of lies, misinformation and 'facts,' rather than differences of world view or principles." PolitiFact concluded that "it is inaccurate to call the plan a government takeover."(WSJ, 12/23/2010)
Luntz's formulating a political game plan appears in the stunning pdf document I found at dailykos.com. It lays out Luntz's MO advising the GOP on illegal immigration policy. I'm surprised this document is out there cuz you'd think it would be a classified FYEO document equivalent to an NFL team's Super Bowl game plan. It orchestrates, choreographs, composes, scores a whole operatic plan of attack for a government initiative to win over public support. "Respect for the Law & Economic Fairness: Illegal Immigration Prevention." I'd call it the GOP playbook on "framing the narrative" as Frederick mentions below.
The Dems are always in reactive mode as described in your Rove quote. They have been totally flat-footed, tongue-tied, sitting on their hands, two-left-bungling feet, too little too late. Always playing catch-up. They lack strategists of Luntz's caliber. To win over hearts and minds, "framing the narrative" can be transparent, honest, trust worthy, persuasive, factual without employing questionable machinations. I'd go for the heart to appeal to "the better angels of our nature."(Lincoln, Inaugural Address, 3/4/1861)
https://images.dailykos.com/images/user/3/Luntz_frames_immigration.pdf
Martha, I appreciate your review of Luntz, the key fabricator.
In lieu of liberals' general ignorance of farming, we therefore are reactionary in most every effort. Since Reagan and 1980, I believe the only successful movement from the left has been the marriage equality movement. Clinton and Obama were principally our ‘reaction’ against the Bushes.
Wow. Thank you, Martha, for taking such a deep dive and concluding with good forward looking direction about “framing the narrative” to appeal to our “better angels.”
Totally agree with you about Dems being “flat-footed, tongue-tied, etc....”! I said that same thing earlier about Dens are lousy at messaging. Always have been.
Scary
That, Stuart, is the $64,000 question! (That number probably should be increased from its 1950's beginnings!)
Indeed! If it hasn't got 5 or 8 zeros after the number these days it goes unnoticed...despite our salaries and pensions having only a very few zeros to take to the bank. In the 50s the figure actually meant something to people. Now it's the blind hope to join the 1%!
What my depression era father used to call doodle-dust in the budget.
In the immortal words of Joe Hill:
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
Blind hope to join the 1%...truth, this.
That is the real question! John 13:38 contains the voice of Pilate as he questions Jesus before condemning him to death: "What is truth?" We continue to grapple with this question when faced with different "truths" in our politics. Perhaps "by their fruits" we will know who is the truth bearer and who is not.
I’ve seen a cartoon of two figures pointing at each other as they both say, “My truth is truthier than your truth!”
Permissible truth or alternate facts seem to be a work in progress while the Trump illusionists press on. They will create more violent dysfunction and there will be interesting consequences but the inauguration will happen and sanity will gradually be regained.
I remember when news was factual, tv was imaginary theatre, and politics was about reasoned debate and compromise. Today, like in Russia “Nothing is true and everything is possible”. Never before has democracy faced so great a challenge.
And journalists actually did their job rooting out facts and keeping their opinions for the Editorials page. The media now effectively considers itself as part of the governing elite rather than a countervailing power.
It helps to remember that many of our newspapers are now owned by hedge fund managers who have cut staff to the minimum and are seeking a profit by forcing click bait to the front of the "page" at the expense of journalism.
There are some journalist with integrity and talent left, Jane Mayer and Lawrence Wright come to mind.
Mayer and Wright both work for the New Yorker, so I think they have the kind of support for investigative work that is different from a daily newspaper gig. I was also remember that Ronan Farrow had to go to the New Yorker because his network news department at CBS wouldn't publish the Weinstein revelations which, in the end, won him a Pulitzer. I do not doubt that there are fine reporters, I just feel that those who have bought the newspapers have dismantled them in many ways.
I'm just reading Mayer's "The Dark Side".....i've already digested her Dark Money. Thanks for the "Wright" reference.
Your welcome sir! I wonder if this community could compile a list of the best journalist. Our integrity all star journalist team. They support truth, we support them with likes and shares.
News just broke about Drumf’s call to Ga Sec State. Moments later the WSJ is pumping a China story about alternative Covid-19 orgins. Almost instantly drawing the attention away from the real story of the day.
And who the (effective) penalty?
And now they have gotten better at using actors and props in their charade. From the brooks brothers rebellion from Florida 2000, today they have the Proud Boys, militia groups, and lots and lots of guns.
Repeated lying is a Republican tactic. Remember the swiftboat and John Keery?
The GOP base amplifies a lot of old ideas because they have been convinced that the left is a huge menace. That is why the base's enthusiasm for Republican candidates and policies does not require them to like those candidates and policies. They just have to have a paralyzing fear that a Democrat might get elected, and believe that any Republican victory would protect them against the far more dangerous Democrats. The Democrats use a very similar strategy, making their base fear Republicans.
I think trickle-down economics works exactly as it was intended, albeit not as it was advertised to the middle class and working class. And that is precisely why the Republicans will continue to do everything they can to keep it going.
Once again I arise to the onset of a severe headache after reading the first paragraph or two of this column. Two points in particular set me off today.
First - Who exactly are the representatives of representative government representing? "Biden’s transition spokesperson ... called their efforts a “stunt.” He isn’t wrong." There is no public groundswell of concern about election fraud and to the best of my knowledge there never was been.
Trump introduced the notion of fraud BEFORE he was elected the first time, screaming about RIGGED elections. Had the media been more demanding of evidence at the time perhaps the "issue" would have been muted. He introduced it again well before the general election this time and again the media abetted the claim by failing to demand that he show his cards. In both cases the Democrats failed to push back forcefully, presumably because they thought he had no chance in 2016, and because they overestimated the degree of voter fatigue with his antics in 2020
So these "representatives" seem to have chosen to die on a hill of their own making, despite the 60+ legal challenges having produced nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. They've manufactured a case, couched in the gravitas of "precedent." It's a doomed effort that benefits no one but their image in Trump's eyes. It only serves as justification for their own future forays into greater voter suppression.
Second - What cat's got the Democrats' tongues? Taking the high road is morally admirable and has yielded exactly nothing. George McGovern vs Richard Nixon? Too liberal. Jimmy Carter as contrapoint to the corrupt Richard Nixon? One and done. Michael Dukakis after 8 years of Reagan? Blown out, wins only 10 states, yet "improves upon" the results of the Democrats in the previous two elections.
The GOP has thrown chaff in the radar of Democrats' messaging for years through the dirty tactics of Lee Atwater, the groundless yet persistent hearings on Benghazi, and flooding the media with the noise of Clinton's emails. Coupled with the media vascillating between "balanced" coverage and the "entertainment value" of Trump, the Democrats have failed, yet again, to adopt tactics to parry the GOP's obstructive strategies. They seem powerless to either borrow from the GOP playbook (and its associated stench) or to just become more adept at developing aggressive approaches to counter the GOP by uncovering its individual and collective failings to serve its constituents and the country as a whole.
I could go on but it's only 5:00 AM and it's been an exhausting day already. As comedian Wanda Sykes said of Black people in America, "we need a better PR person."
What Scott said. Truth 'dat. Why aren't the Dems/Progressives/whatever playing the same game? They need a louder voice and yes a good PR staff. I suggest the 'follow the money' strategy. Boycott the funders and this stuff stops pronto. Everything is a business model - this isn't about political philosphy - or even ideology. Or as they say down here in the deseert, "There's Benjamins in bullshit".
As Heather said somewhere
(paraphrasing), we need to take up more oxygen.
And perhaps a little nitrous oxide just for giggles.
🤣🤣🤣
The Republicans use repetition as a weapon. If every Congressional Democrat went to twitter and FB and issued a simple statement of condemnation of what damage these Senators are doing to our government and it was retweeted/ reposted, it would flood both platforms. It seems like a simple act, but could make a big difference.
Thanks, Margaret. I agree, and I just included your idea -- with credit -- in emails to Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and to Rep. Rick Larsen, in which I expressed my frustration with the Democratic Party's pattern of rolling over and playing dead and exhorted them to DO SOMETHING!
The day the Dems play the same game is the day I’m no longer a democrat!
I think Scott’s point is that the Democrats have been playing dead for too long. I don’t think he advocates dirty tricks like the Republicans do. Instead I think we need to be vocal, stand up, get publicity and all those kinds of things. Retreating into our proverbial shells and hoping the threat goes away doesn’t work.
I agree. I'd like to see someone (or several people) repeatedly screaming their outrage at these fake investigations, and at ddt & co's greedy, power hungry, sadistic, murderous, seditious behavior. And for the media to cover her/him widely.
And that will come only from us as we must awaken those who put in those seats! We are the ones who must inundate the masses with our protests and messages. Whether it be by letters, postcards, texts, phone calls, showing up at their offices, etc...we must do something. No more complacency!
Thank you Annette, I guess I wasn't clear about what means the Dems should use.
Elaine, a point I didn't make that some think I'm suggesting is to act the same way as the GOP - underhanded, barely legal, and with malice. But the Dems seem to feel that if they act intentionally that they'll somehow lose voters. The GOP is very good at spinning the story that any action by Dems is "politicizing" some issue or another.
I'm not certain of all the tools the Dems may have at their disposal but they've got to quit walking on eggshells and go nose to nose.
I despise the rise of Twitter as the means of political communication. If they had to actually get in each other's faces there'd be more negotiation and less sniping.
I see now. And what happened to Bernies threat to filibuster McConnell? That just disappeared?
They are representing their Party and their Donors. We're living in an oligarchic kleptocracy now not a democratic republic. Party and Patrons beats Constituents and Country every time now.
Citizens United really means Corporations and 1% against democracy and the people
I've been working with WolfPAC here in Texas to do get a Constitutional amendment on election funding reform. I certainly agree that Citizens United is legalized corruption and totally in conflict with one person one vote.
Heck yeah! Luv to learn more about this.
Here's the link to Wolf-PAC: https://wolf-pac.com/ I think there are groups in every state. Great bunch of people. We do citizen lobbying at state capitols to get a resolution (the same one in all states) through the state legislatures for a Convention of States limited to election funding reform. It has passed in 5 states which mean we have 34 more to go. Persistence is everything!
It's time for the Progressives to break away from the Democratic party and go their own way. We need more than two parties to keep this ship afloat and the DNC has proven through the last two elections at least that they don't have the chops to do more than try to sustain the status quo, which is really just the status woe for most Americans.
Totally Agree. It would be interesting to see who actually moves.
Scott, I had precisely this conversation with my husband yesterday.
It’s pretty difficult to contest blather, Scott. How are you supposed to respond to a threatening lie before the fact? Not sure that becoming like the seditious Republicans is the answer.
Are you related to Stephen Krasner?
Patricia, I'm not advocating becoming "seditious" at all. I'm not completely certain what options exist for doing things like enforcing subpoenas, as was a problem during impeachment. I understand there are constraints when you're the minority party, but it seems like there's always a concern that if the Dems ruffle feathers that somehow they'll be penalized by voters. I guess my point is quit walking on eggshells.
I'm not related to Stephen Krasner that I know of. I do know there's a Stephen Krasner in Atlanta who had a similar Gmail address and my mom would send things to him. He got a little touchy about the whole thing but I explained the issue and it's all good.
I agree that we have to stop walking on eggshells. I’m afraid that the future of this country is at stake and could unravel much more quickly than I ever imagined. Like maybe this coming Wednesday. The pundits all say these efforts by Cruz and co. will lead to nothing. I’m no longer sure of that.
Stephen Krasner is a political scientist at Stanford who was also in Bush II administration.
“Walking on eggshells” is a good way to describe what the Dems have done for way too long. We have severely gotten rambled on and must fight fire with fire!
I think every day till inauguration will be increasing intensity of spectacle. It’s the reality tv show script. Keeps us tuning in.
Oh, if we could only take a break from this seditious nonsense and rest peacefully for a day. Our work can never be done as informed, engaged citizens if we are to protect ourselves from these autocrats and preserve our democracy. None of this is just about Trump and what he has created. He has been their useful idiot. As we now know, there are other autocrats in waiting - more polished and even more duplicitous. I read a very informative, revealing thread about Josh Hawley on Twitter tonight and how he has been working toward this moment since he was a teenager. We need to know the “Hawleys” and their agendas. You can read the thread here (no Twitter account required): https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1345464374593519617.html?fbclid=IwAR2kh5s9MrPpJtrOBjGjJ2YaD6PVdXecZKX4GQjRAkgdGbgsUEeFsfVYVL4
All I had to read was about Hobby Lobby and then got really angry. Yes, he has been planning his stage presence for a very long time. Ugh...another religious right zealot.
This time a smart one, even more dangerous. And totally unprincipled, even more than Trump.
TC, you echo my thoughts. There are several similar "smart, but even more dangerous" candidates waiting in the wings for 2024. Tom Cotton, for example.
....both very slick, attractive young senators with more intelligence in their little finger than the Mango Moron has in all his bulk. And...they have a guaranteed multi-million $ treasure chest.
The big question: can you name any Democratic candidates for 2024?
We can re-elect the president, or (as I suspect), elect the new Vice President as President. Since she was my first choice this time around, that would be something i would like a lot.
It’s time to right the ship. I’ve been in business long enough to value the force multiplier of diversity in decision making and execution. I’ve seen plenty of male counter parts f’ things up so badly. Leadership best served is a combination of judgement, integrity, humility, courage, creating interdependence. There is no valid reason we can’t have a Madam President.
With all due respect to her, I do not think she could beat Josh or Tom....not in this political and social environment.
She’s not electable I’m afraid. Has to be someone even fed up republicans would consider.
Every time we declare someone unelectable, we make them so. Do you think she’s unelectable because she’s a female POC? And that now we are forever doomed to only nominating straight white males in the hope of attracting republicans? I for one hope not.
I am not familiar with Hobby Lobby, Marlene. Could you please explain? Thanks!
Lynell, Hobby Lobby is a national craft store. The underlying fact is that the owners are the religious “right”. When the Affordable Care Act was approved, they refused to provide health insurance for any birth control methods for their employees based on...their religion. I am sending you a link to ACLU’s 2014 article about them. They are horrible!
https://www.aclu-wa.org/blog/hobby-lobby-decision-imposing-religious-beliefs-employees
I refuse to shop at Hobby Lobby
I also refuse to shop there. One thing about Hobby Lobby that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is that the owners bought Iraqi antiquities, smuggled out of Iraq after the U.S. invasion, and labeled as "clay tiles" and "ceramic tiles," which were ultimately destined for Hobby Lobby's owner's Museum of the Bible. They were purchased for $1.6 million. Once their origin was revealed, Hobby Lobby had to forfeit them and was fined $3 Million. Interesting that they claim moral superiority by refusing to pay for employees' insurance if it covers contraception, but have no problem furnishing their Museum of the Bible with stolen antiquities. Perhaps they believe it's acceptable behavior if Muslims are anti-Christian.
I was delighted when they were busted for illegal trafficking in antiquities.
Nor would I or have I.
Yup. I will not do business there because of that. I also believe they have strong objections to LGBTQ folks.
Yes they do, Elaine, and I forgot to mention that.
Our power also lies in a list of all the businesses that should be boycotted to bring these "actors" to their knees. And then who gets hurt...the working poor.
You hit that squarely on what we can do!
Thank you for this! All I knew about them is that they close on Sundays. Ugh I will not shop there again.
Thanks, Marlene. I was confused when I searched "Hobby Lobby" and only found mention of the craft store. Will read your link now!
Lynell....and unfortunately (imho), the Catholic Little Sisters of the Poor, who run many nursing homes for seniors, joined Hobby Lobby in the fight against providing benefits which fund contraception for their employees. This provides one more avenue for legalized discrimination by churches or groups claiming religious grounds for such action.
The Becket Fund solicited the Little Sisters (who are on the hook for going along with them) in throwing hissy fits about the contraception mandate in the ACA. I was HR director for a Catholic diocese at that time...watching all those men, whose every need is taken care of, huff and stomp around about contraception. 🤯
Thanks, Carol. Every time I read/hear about anti-contraception "Christians," I see red! I'll say no more...
They are despicable
That's really damning, and for those who want "sources," follow the hyperlinks to the various accounts.
Thanks for posting this, but would like more info on who posted this and why in order to properly assess the information.
Apologies for my oversight, Patricia. I thought the page on the Thread Reader app included the author’s Twitter bio. It was posted by Lindsey Simmons, a Missouri native and Harvard Law grad, who was the Democratic candidate for Missouri’s 4th Congressional district (she lost to the Republican candidate). You can learn more about her here: https://lindseysimmons.com/
Thank you so much. I could tell from the posts it was a candidate, but wasn’t clear on who, wher, when. Compounding that, I’m not a twitterer either. We ALL need to update our educations it seems! 😉
Go follow the hyperlinks to the stories and you'll have your sources.
YUCK!
Thank you HRC, for pointing out the fact that modern elections, especially the 2020 election, are probably the most honest in our history.
The Republicans know they cannot win a fair, open, honest election. What the Sedition Eleven are doing now, what the Republican Party has been doing over the last forty years, is to undermine small d democracy in our country, but not by old school, third world stuffing of ballot boxes. Without voter suppression, gerrymandered congressional districts, the Electoral College system, ginning up investigations into nothing by the ongoing coordinated mis-information campaign of the talk radio/Fox News propaganda industrial complex, meaningless congressional votes, (how many votes to repeal ACA? 40? 50?) the Republicans know they would become politically irrelevant. They are masters at getting enough people to vote against their own best interests to remain politically viable.
In other words, Republicans do all they can to avoid democracy and the democratic processes of government. This is sedition. This is treason.
A Pulitzer Prize for Heather!
That should be "Thank you HCR" not "HRC."
Apologies.
Freudian slip? Maybe.
The Lincoln Project recently released a brilliant new video introducing us to the Senators from the new #JimCrowCaucus.
#RememberTheirNames: @HawleyMO @tedcruz @RandPaul @SenTomCotton
and the corporate America titans who are funding them: @ATT @Citibank @CharlesSchwab
#EveryVoteCounts
https://www.newsweek.com/new-lincoln-project-ad-calls-ted-cruz-others-jim-crow-caucus-amid-election-challenges-1558522
I am glad to see The Lincoln Project identifying some of the companies that donate to these Republicans. Calling out their corporate supporters and boycotting their businesses might make them pay attention to the majority.
Yes, but it really should be Democrats doing the calling out. I love what The Lincoln Project has accomplished but the people behind it are either Republicans or ex-Repubs. Democrats need to start pointing fingers with these reveals.
I have been a member of the Lincoln Project since it’s inception, our ads and focus has been to reveal the truth about the threat to our democracy. I was a Republican of the John McCain variety, the Republicans today bear no resemblance to that. I am an American veteran that knows what it means to take an oath to our constitution. I like most of you, watched with horror the predetermined outcome of the trial in the senate that could have spared us so much pain and suffering ,in order to do that they had to violate their oath to the constitution. We are not going to forget their names, I have already voted against the two Georgia senators that are in the runoff here this week. Anyone that has ever sat on a jury knows that it is unacceptable to predetermine a verdict before the trial, that’s precisely what we as a nation watched happen. In my opinion our country comes way before any political party so it has been easy to wholeheartedly support Joe Biden and his agenda for much needed change
As you already know, I am grateful for what you and others have done and are doing to focus on the wrongs committed by quite a few in the Repub Party. As a person who has always stood up for injustices, you have to understand that I am suspicious of your overall motives. Will you leave your party as Steve Schmidt has done? What is it that keeps you there?
I have left the party and registered as a democrat for the first time in 40 years, there are many things I don't agree with, but for me first and foremost is the health and wellbeing of the nation I fought to defend, everything else is secondary. I personally believe that Joe Biden will make a fine president as he feels the same way about our nation as I do. He won't be perfect, no one is, but just think about what a difference having a good intention will have on anything he tackles, it'll be like watching the sun rise after a long bitterly cold night, I'm up for that.
Thank you so very much! I realize it must be like disassociating yourself from a parent but your choice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your service, I wish more of us were so deserving of it.
Yeah, it turns out the differences you and I likely have over policy that could take us from zero to screech in 60 seconds aren't what's important. What's important is, are you a member of the Democracy Party, without which we can't have the policy disagreements. We're both members of the same party, and for the same reasons.
Yes.
I'm afraid most of today's Democrats are too afraid of losing their jobs to do anything that rocks the boat.
Then those are the ones we do not want in office. I happen to sometimes like AOC, Ayanna Pressley, and others when they challenge the status quo. It is not acceptable that those we have elected to these seats, aren’t listening or reacting. Boot them out!
They will not rise up to break the shackles of their own party, much less provide any real change to the system, as a whole.
Mary Anne, do you have a list of corporate Republican supporters whose businesses we can boycott? I would very much like to share such a list on social media. TIA
Imogene, your question caused me to dig a little more. I don’t have a list, but there is a lot of information here: https://www.opensecrets.org/
And here is an interesting article about how many companies, particularly consumer goods companies, have gone underground with their donations, such as having family members donate personally, for fear of triggering a boycott that would be easily amplified in social media: https://www.fooddive.com/news/where-they-stand-political-donations-from-10-of-the-largest-food-and-bever/585516/
Thank you so much, Mary Ann! Your info is most helpful. I'll share it. People going underground to hide their donations reminds me of ultra conservative dark money spearheaded by the Koch brothers & co. Ugh!
The assumption that Democrats are not funded by corporate donors is puzzling. https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors
Laws have changed. Too little transparency, so very little accountability.
Is it assumed that Democrats are not financed by corporate donors? https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors
There has been a movement from Democratic candidates to refuse corporate PAC money. Not all Democratic candidates have adhered to that, but many have. I don’t know of any Republican candidates who have made the same commitment. In any event, I look at who is supporting the less honorable candidates or elected officials, even when those individuals’ dishonorable actions or divisive policy positions have been revealed.
Can they afford to considering citizens United?
I tolerate the almost constant requests from Democrats for small, grassroots donations, knowing that they are trying to avoid corporate PAC donations. They are up against a behemoth money flow on the Republican side.
I don't have the data, but I think that other than Bernie Sanders, dems claim that they are not accepting PAC money and have been supported by small donors, but Open Secrets shows otherwise.
I'm not making that assumption, nor is it part of my question. I want to know which corporations donate heavily to ultra conservative Republicans, so that I can boycott those corporations because I find their goals and values pernicious. It's about what I can do to help create a better, more just and equitable world.
And now Pence is on board with them...lock his ass up too.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/us/politics/gop-senators-josh-hawley-election.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20210103
Thank you for calling that to my attention, Bruce. I hadn’t heard about his involvement until now. What an ill advised move on his part! At the very least, this should end his political career.
One hopes.
I was somewhat surprised that Heather didn't mention that in this morning's letter. Must have crossed in the mail.
Yes, I was wondering about that too.
Thank you Dr. Richardson, for once again enunciating so well the current political situation.
I am furious at the Senators and Representatives who are perpetrating this sham, and shameful, fraud. I am furious that the current President has refused to peacefully transfer power. I am furious that the current Vice President, ever the faithful lap dog, is now egging on these people.
These Senators and Reps talk about wanting to satisfy the concerns of their constituents. Apparently they do not realize that some (many?) of their constituents are part of the 85 million plus people who voted for Presodent-Elect Biden and Vice President -Elect Harris. They are, as you have so often written about, deligitimizing our votes - we are the mudsills who don't deserve to vote, in their opinion, and certainly don't deserve to elect who we want to steer our country forward. They won't succeed, but their actions are so damaging. "Sedition Caucus" indeed.
AND they are doing all of this while hundreds of thousands of us are dying from a pandemic. Disgusting.
I am exhausted by this never-ending election, but I won't sit down and shut up either. January 20th can't come fast enough.
MUDSILLS UNITE!
January 20th will be the REAL New Year.
What can or should we the people do about this latest mockery of our government? I am in GA and I am sure Tuesday will turn into a circus. I am so disgusted by these white men’s antics to gain personal power that I want to do something. I work Voter Protection now to help assure the frightened electorate that they can vote and have their vote count but it just doesn’t seem like enough. These men should not be holding a public office.
God bless you, Martha! Keep at it!!
Your work sounds like a great idea to me.
Thanks you Martha!!
Thank you for standing up those in GA.
Gomert, whose moronic case was thrown out of court yesterday, last night called for violence to happen in order to prevent Biden's assumption of office. https://www.thedailybeast.com/louie-gohmert-calls-for-street-violence-as-pence-lawsuit-loss-sends-maga-world-spiraling
This is a felony, my friends. Incitement to violence is a federal crime. I don't understand why DAs are not arresting these people. It isn't just the complicity of the media, which love to focus on scandals if they involve women as the baddies (for instance the appalling graft, corruption, and bribery of rich people to get their kids into colleges--most people are aware of only a couple of these cases, which indicted [and jailed in the former instance] Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, but the rest of the iceberg is mostly male). The entire political and legal system is designed to ignore what morons like Cruz and Co do on the basis of "white boyz will be boyz" (and yes, I know some female enablers of the patriarchy are in there too). Instead of simply laughing at them, we need to demand that they be treated like other criminals and prosecuted and punished for their crimes.
I hold the op-ed columnist (and Pulitzer alumna) Maureen Dowd in contempt because of her relentless campaign against the Clintons, whom she hates with a level of vitriol that makes it, well, weird. I don't like them either, but Dowd did a lot to make the Cheeto palatable to some NYTimes readers because they bought into her animus. Her whining for the last four years and her poor-meism infuriates me--and a lot of other readers who persist in pointing out that she helped get the deranged corn chip elected. The media need a reboot, but so does the entire political system, and "professional' politicians need to be indicted and imprisoned for that to happen. Bring it on.
I don't know how Biden and Harris are holding up under this onslaught of fascist propaganda. I don't know why there seem to be only two principled pols in the Gormless (Russian) Operative Party left--and they (Sasse and Romney) are unreliable actors at the best of times. The cognitive dissonance is absolutely blowing my mind.
The next two days are going to be awful.
I saw that story on Gohmert last night. I can’t believe that he isn’t arrested for inciting violence which is, indeed, a crime.
What she said x 100. 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻
Your blood pressure and mine are on the same trajectory.
Amen. Thank you, Linda.
How can we, citizens, effectively push back?
The current effort by the Sedition Caucus will likely fail, but it is a prologue to the behavior we will see in the coming session of Congress and throughout the land.
This behavior will be cloned in State Houses controlled by Trumpists, parroted in allied media outlets, and spread far and wide through social media. The threat to Constitutional Democracy is manifest and the likelihood that far-right extremists will take to the streets to mirror the behavior of their elected representatives is high.
I’ve begun researching the issues, looking at Biden’s agenda and the likely challenges. Climate, taxes, policing reforms – for example – will all be met by objections, many of which will be constructed from the cloth of Trumpist propaganda and not from math, science, or historical experience. The other area of great concern is the growth of far-right extremist groups and their symbiotic relationship with Trumpist officials such as Cruz & Co.
The fronts on which the struggle against the forces of darkness will be waged are many and varied – we all need to be engaged.
Unworthy they are indeed. As long as groups like the Sedition Caucus can use tens of thousands of false accusations to create a lasting impression of non-existent election theft, this maneuver will repeat every time Republicans lose the Presidency.
Lies will always travel faster than the truth but I'm relieved our institution's speed bumps slowed them down 60 times in great fashion. The only cure for the power of ignorance and lies is the wisdom that comes from people being informed of the truth.
Social media and a complicit Press give lies validity but newsletters such as this one, not podcasts or YouTube videos, can erase pseudo-certainty with undeniable truth grounded in fact.
Here's to the New Pamphleteers!
That last sentence of the closing paragraph sums it up so precisely:
"Democracy depends on a willingness to transfer power peacefully from one group of leaders to another. By revealing that they refuse to do so, the members of the “Sedition Caucus,” as they are being called on social media, are proving they are unworthy of elected office."
We need to get them voted out of office. We cannot relax our vigilance until democracy is secure once more. Indeed, perhaps we and future generations can never again assume that democracy will survive despite a "few" corrupt self-serving legislators, because it has turned out that so many Republicans are cut from the same cloth. Not that every Democrat is guaranteed to be morally straight, but these past 4 years under 45 seems to have brought out a lot more sycophantic morally broken Republicans than I ever expected to exist.
Thanks as always to Dr. Heather for tipping over the rocks and shining her light on the evil that would've remained hidden. Rest well! 💜
Well said, the senate trial revealed them for who they are, it’s up to us to not forget.
We can’t take our democracy for granted anymore—I’ll never forget this horrible time.
Right? Wake up call. I’ve had a friend since I was 19 who never voted at all and now I can’t get her to stop talking about all of this for the last four years.
Properly applied, modern wood glue forms a bond between two pieces of wood that is stronger that the wood itself. And so it is with the “movement conservatives”. The glue is poverty, which gives permission to generations of under-education, flourishing of beliefs in the fanciful and the vile. There is one true religion, there is one best color of skin, there is one best government, there is no good government, unfettered capitalism will eventually provide the best living for all people, and there is no right to privacy in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
Given enough stress, the wood fails. Or in this case the muscle, bone, heart, brain and soul fails. There is civil war ongoing in the conservative movement. In the case of the men like Cruz, Harley, Cotton and the fellow acolytes, their brains and hearts simply cannot comprehend their version of truth being exposed as false.
Millions of self-aware people of all persuasions have seen the lie that the government is the enemy. Good government is the essential ingredient in a massive society. The young generations will not accept racism, sexism, systemic injustice, nor generational poverty in any group of humans. I believe(and I pray) that djt and the current version of conservatism is the nadir for our journey. Let us stand witness to their demise.
Yes please let this be the nadir.
Not quite. That was described by Orwell.
Your analogy is spot on! I appreciate visuals.
Truly outrageous how thoroughly Trump has corrupted the Republicans in both Houses of Congress. I never expected anything non-corrupt from Trump, but have been astounded over and over again, even when his grip on power ought to be loosening, that Trump has the GOP politicians scared of the shadow of this charlatan and his "base." -- Thank goodness for the simply ordinary degree of ethical behavior from state level GOP officials (esp the Secretary of State and Governor in GA, but many others nationwide). I respect them for standing up to Trump and his minions even if I disagree with them on policy.
He didn't "corrupt" them. It was easy for him to take over as he did because they were already far right radicals (i.e., fascists) . They're not afraid of him - they agree with him.
Exactly. Trump’s lack of decorum, his heartless demeanor, sexist and misogynistic rhetoric simply gave others permission to ack the same. Trump is the biggest bully in the room and all the bully-wannabes have always been there but been kept in check. Not so much now.
I agree TC. They were already corrupt long before tRump meandered into their party. Remember, tRump was once a Democrat. It is so very sad that this election has devolved into the swamp along with the Republican party.
Steve, initially, I, too, admired both Gov. Kemp and Brad Raffensperger for pushing back at Trump, and I emailed Raffensperger regarding his courage. However, in the last few weeks, Secretary Rafffensperger, apparently dismayed that his political career in Georgia might be threatened, has decided that mail in ballots here should be confined to only those who have a "reason" for voting absentee - because of being elderly, ill, anticipated travel, or other "good" reasons. He has also decided to purge thousands of registered voters from the rolls ahead of next Tuesday's Senate runoff. That effort has been thwarted by a judge (Stacey Abrams' sister), and hopefully won't happen - unless the Republicans raise objections of "conflict of interest" because of the relationship with Ms. Abrams.
As for Gov. Kemp, while he has been less odious during his administration than I'd anticipated, he has danced to the Trump tune, in that he initially refused to wear a mask, and has declined to mandate masks, claiming that a mandate wouldn't be enforceable, and resisted all calls to shut down businesses that attract large gatherings of customers. Additionally, he was infuriated by Atlanta's mayor for mandating masks. To some extent, that has contributed to Georgia's horrifying number of COVID cases. His voter suppression, as Secretary of State, during his campaign against Stacey Abrams for governor also shades his legacy and dilutes his current efforts to stand up to Trump.
Granted, neither of these men can be compared to the current list of Trump sycophants, but as pressure has mounted and the Trump base has threatened, both of these men are backpedaling. It is clear that neither can be credited with moral courage.
Stacy Abrams is a boss! The first time I heard her speak, I knew she had the right stuff and bright future. She should have won GA. If she was the Gov, she would have saved so many lives from Covid.
Most definitely. I've been told that she turned down a cabinet position because she wants the Governorship in 2 years, after being cheated the first time. She'll make her mark nationally, too, in the future. She has worked tirelessly and intelligently to stop voter suppression here, and if Warnock and Ossoff win, she'll be the reason.
I had expected her to get a cabinet position, but maybe she will be able to make a bigger impact as Governor. (Yes, yes, yes, she is a boss!!)
Nancy -- Thanks for this background information, some of which I was unaware of, esp the attempted voter suppression by Brad R. With respect to mask wearing, I totally disagree with Governor Kemp's anti-mask actions-policies, but as much as I disagree with him on this, it is not a decision that threatens or undermines our democracy in the way many GOP-ers are attempting to do (and thankfully, unsuccessfully thus far).
Hi, Steve. The current attempts of undermining of our democracy certainly register much higher on the Richter scale. However, in addition to the Trump administration's total bungling of the pandemic response, Kemp's pandering to Trump in his initial refusal to take precautions, combined with the large Republican presence here (still), has resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths. Ultimately, these actions contribute to the multitude of negative issues that require time, attention, and boatloads of cash that Biden will have to navigate.
All true. Absolute ineptitude coupled with callousness about the loss of life from the effort to hide the seriousness of the pandemic.
Trump bungled the response, wanted to put the burden on the states, and since the initial outbreaks were in blue states, cared not a whit about the victims. Compounding his callousness was his fear that the markets would take a hit and damage the economy, his claim to fame.
Honestly given Kemp’s record as Sec of State, I am amazed that he has stood his ground to Trump. Something made him change, not totally, but enough to hopefully give us. Fir run off election. But I do wonder about his change as he was all over Trump at the beginning of the shutdown and Pandemic and was right up there supporting freedom notto wear masks and open back up early.
I think it had a lot to do with so many suburban women leaving the Republican fold and voting Democratic, frightening Shotgun to amend some of his stances.
They weren’t corrupted particularly I think they swallowed the Kool-Aid. They see opportunity somehow. I don’t really think there is opportunity but they think they see it. Pence thinks he has a crack at future presidential bids, 🙄he’s done as far as I can see
I sure hope so.
Steve, I mean this sincerely (no snark, here) you've got to get over being outraged. Here is why:
1. The problem isn't Trump et al., it's 74M peoples' economic and political disenfranchisement.
2. Trump Republicanism works (74M voted for him), even though it doesn't (real actions helping millions of people); it works because it's founded on the principles of marketing and advertising (do you need a 1/3 of the stuff you end up buying; do you continue to buy c**p you don't need?)
3. Josh Howley or another much more intelligent and sophisticated individual than Trump, will refine Trump Republicanism for 2024; they have to, they're sitting on political Gold.
And it works because a good number of the Trump Republicans are out and out racists and he appeals to that aspect of their personalities.
Come now. The race card? Critical Race Theory. What might you call that? Intersectional ;)
I also think your first point is critical to understand. The Dems stopped talking to this economic group long ago. They are paying a huge price, including losing House seats all down the ticket. They still remain unclear about what they value and who they value.
1. Both polemics Dem/Repub. value only 1 thing - power.
2. The American public simply does not understand the game.
3. Proof of #2? - The body politic continues to elect a millionaire class in the expectation that this millionaire class will represent their interests.
4. On the most surface of surfaces, if one considers #3 it makes Zero sense.
5. There are exceptions; Katie Poter comes to mind.
Here's the thing, our system is fundamentally corrupt, we allow ourselves to not be represented and instead get sucked into the left/right canard and its political theater (in all fairness, all political systems are gamed and corrupt).
You can't create solutions if the problems aren't even being discussed...
Criticism is easy, someone, much smarter than I, help me out with thinking on the re-creation of a way for people to govern civil and civic affairs...
Yes, Jan, the whole thing lives in my #1. Yet from the NYTs to FOX, is any "News" source really addressing this causality in a meaningful way?
Of course not. It's too complicated for the medium, and it doesn't give good demographics for the ad dollars or subscriptions.
This stuff is not complicated; it's a situation of no one in power, calling out power. And, why would they?
The simple fact is those we "elect" have more of a vested interest in the maintenance of the status quo than in representing people with no power.
This is very simple to understand. Yet... we continue on with the same non-sense. Every four years, it's going "To Be New Day in America", lol...
Now, criticism is easy. I have no idea what the solution is, other than, there will be no solutions until the real issues are discussed in the popular media-sphere.
And, this is not going to happen with any scale approaching FOX or the NYTs
Point taken. No question that the marketing and advertising is effective, and especially effective at getting m,any (not all) of the 74M voters to vote against their own self-interests. -- One point of clarification. I did not write that I was (personally) outraged. I wrote that it is "Truly outrageous how thoroughly Trump has corrupted the Republicans..." I meant that the situation is so outrageous that political corruption on such a large and undemocratic scale could even happen and that others really should notice and do something about it. It comes down to a lack of critical thinking, but even that relies upon a set of agreed upon facts... which is fundamentally the ability to think critically about and to question information sources.
I empathize, Steve, I sincerely do. And, I don't disagree.
I will say the Republicans have been thoroughly corrupt, long before Trump came along (Nixon, Reagan and 7-ish Cabinet members indicted; Bush and the Iraq invasion- "why exactly were we in Iraq, again"?; but the same can be said for Democrats; Clinton deregulated the financial markets in '97/8-ish and this led to the 2008 crash; Obama continued illegal wars and on and on...)
It's the system. It thoroughly corrupts all players. Left/Right is a canard.
The American public isn't going to wake tomorrow and become critical thinkers. In the same breath...people are not stupid; they're being manipulated, yes. Us v. Them and divide and conquer are the oldest strategies in the book.
We can't persuade people from a starting point of, "...you're stupid and don't know how to critically think...".
Civilizations have their rise and inevitable declines; we're declining and I don't think there is much, other than bandaids, to be done about it.
It's a shame because we do know better, now.
And we'll all type on, in the comments section of our favorite media bubble...
❤❤❤
A little humour, if I may, from the irrepressible Andy Borowitz (another "rock" I rely on to get through all this!). In the spirit of Andy Borowitz, a friend of mine reminded me of a quote about Cruz from the much-missed Al Franken: "You have to understand that I like Ted Cruz probably more than my colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz."
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/study-average-american-can-stand-four-seconds-of-ted-cruz?fbclid=IwAR15U8HZZKthQJCPZ-O269f8v84Vq4JC-pQA8Sj1D65v3GqCJbPJOrtkkuM
I remember Franken’s comment, which made me laugh then and now.
I can’t get by without my daily Borowitz newsletters! He is a national treasure.
Al Franken is a gem! He is sorely missed in the Senate.
1 year mew Yorker is having a sale. 50% fir the year. Worth it to have the Jan issue summarizing 2020 pandemic response. It’s reall good article. “The plague year” by Lawerence Wright
Thank you for calling attention - with data - to the role of the NY Times and other publications in endlessly repeating and recycling lies, conspiracy theories, tweets, and other mayhem from Trump and the Kamikaze Caucus of the Republican Party. Their aim plainly being to disrupt, not govern, the daily bouts of hyperventilating concern and outrage just add fuel, and credibility, to their scorched earth politics. Of course the "news" must be reported - but they might fulfill their journalistic obligations by removing coverage of these antics to small, discrete sections in their publications that readers might access (or not) at their leisure.
I agree. There is a difference between reporting news and sensationalizing events to elicit clicks. Margaret Sullivan of the WaPo writes often about this, and the NYT is one of the worst.
Thanks...with any luck somebody there is paying attention!
The whole thing proves two points:
1. Harry Truman was right back in 1948 when he said "The only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies." It's only more true today than it was back then. They have been scum for a looooooonnng time.
2. Richard Hofstadter was right 67 years ago to define these people as "pseudo-conservatives" and describe them thus:
It can most accurately be called pseudo-conservative — I borrow the term from the study of The Authoritarian Personality published five years ago by Theodore W. Adorno and his associates — because its exponents, although they believe themselves to be conservatives and usually employ the rhetoric of conservatism, show signs of a serious and restless dissatisfaction with American life, traditions and institutions. They have little in common with the temperate and compromising spirit of true conservatism in the classical sense of the word, and they are far from pleased with the dominant practical conservatism of the moment as it is represented by the Eisenhower Administration. Their political reactions express rather a profound if largely unconscious hatred of our society and its ways — a hatred which one would hesitate to impute to them if one did not have suggestive clinical evidence.
From clinical interviews and thematic apperception tests, Adorno and his co-workers found that their pseudo-conservative subjects, although given to a form of political expression that combines a curious mixture of largely conservative with occasional radical notions, succeed in concealing from themselves impulsive tendencies that, if released in action, would be very far from conservative. The pseudo-conservative, Adorno writes, shows “conventionality and authoritarian submissiveness” in his conscious thinking and “violence, anarchic impulses, and chaotic destructiveness in the unconscious sphere. . . . The pseudo conservative is a man who, in the name of upholding traditional American values and institutions and defending them against more or less fictitious dangers, consciously or unconsciously aims at their abolition.”
I agree. Ever since I learned that Barry Goldwater's 1960 book The Conscience Of A Conservative was ghost-written by L. Brent Bozell Jr., William F. Buckley Jr.'s brother in law, I've been convinced that the whole conservative "movement" was a gigantic fake, a pseudo-intellectual system of reactionary non-thought that has ended up doing a great deal of harm to the US.
but it has done no harm to a segment of the 1%.....on the contrary and governments have effectively acted as willing accomplices ever since. I'm just in the process of reading a book by Australian economist, William Mitchell...."Reclaiming the State"....and his arguements for the omnipresent role of the Western governments in creating the free movement of capital, free trade, delocalisation of jobs systems to the detriment of the 99% is clear. He has other arguements about funding governments by printing money on which the jury is still very much "out" but the rest is coherent and persuasive.
Re: "governments have effectively acted as willing accomplices": I recall Clinton's comment as globalization took off that "there's no stopping it" or words to that effect as though it were a tectonic-plates-shifting phenomenon. One major effect we all remember was that US factories closed causing joblessness and its consequences particularly across what became the Midwest rust belt. US companies shifted sourcing the manufacture of goods abroad cuz of cheap labor and no environmental or labor regulations that cut into profits--initially to Mexico along the Texas border, but then left Mexico high and dry as even cheaper labor in Asia beckoned. I recall it seeming unconscionable at the time that US factories would close with nothing done by government trade policy and measures available to it to counter the cataclysm thereby giving corps free rein to collapse US manufacturing. Jobs abroad did raise the standards of living elsewhere and free market economics benefited in reducing poverty world-wide. Yet its overall effects are complicated with economists arguing that it increased inequality rather than reduced it. In the US, especially since 1980 Reaganomics, the income inequality gap has grown to obscene proportions between the 1% haves and the have-nots and continues unabated.
What will, what can Biden do about it? For starters, according to Robert Freeman, in 1980, the highest income brackets paid 91% in income taxes--a progressive tax that equitably distributed taxes between the haves and nots--which got lowered to 37% under Reagan's economic plan. For the next 40 years (!) wealth distribution flowed upward benefiting the rich and hurting everyone else. It can't be said that the economy isn't working. On the contrary, "it is working exactly as intended." https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/11/30/economy-isnt-working-thats-exactly-plan?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0j251iBFSUvWokmqE9FfiKdjD-q5Wa7mJKihH7zm3Hb7ocaOfeaTJoX6I
Under Trump, 87% of his tax giveaways will flow to the top 1% of earners. Biden's plan (on his official website) raises income taxes on the wealthy from 38%> 39.6%. Really? Yes, with the economic crisis all kinds of temporary, as- long-as-needed tax credit, tax relief measures are planned to help working Americans. And corp earnings and investment taxes on the wealthy will have them pay "their fair share." They should be skewered. And...39.6% looks like baby steps when giant steps are called for.
I think I wandered off topic but your opening got me started.
Is Mitchell advocating any specific action to change that situation?
He's coming at the "globalization problem" from the radical left saying that the left has been complicite with capital in setting up the current system and the depoliticization of economic policy to anchor the unfetterered control by capital of the means of wealth generation. He suggests that they have been hoodwinked into supporting the supra-national economic decision making structure (like the EU), which limits the power of the nation state and consolidates the disadvantage of the salaried worker.
He advocates a return essentially to the 50s/60s use of Keynesian macro economics, as opposed to the monetarist school, and the return to national control of capital flows etc. He also is a "big state" advocate of the old socialist school and believes that the state should dominate the means of production, nationalize the financial institutions and return to class warfare, Marxian ideological references. He suggests that this will not run against their current preoccupation, or fascination, with individual and minority rights and would massively increase their attractiveness.
The big state option in the post-globalization economy most certainly doesn't attract me as we've already tried that and we suffered from the glaring incompetence of those in control. This suggests Mitchell has a short memory, despite him being about my age, and as is usual cuts some corners for the sake of ideology. This doesn't improve my opinion of such parts of the political spectrum as they seem only to consider the people as "victims" or as an amorphous mass.
If I understand you correctly, Mitchell wants to see locally- (not globally) controlled Marxist states. I don't find the idea appealing, but suppose for a moment that it works as he hopes. That still does not create a framework for deciding how to deal with climate change, which appears to require a globalist approach.
Given our experience of "marxian states" the idea doesn't appeal to my sense of freedom. It's all very well to propound that the theory was badly applied but.....Stalin killed more people than Hitler and East Germany needed a wall and the threat of death to keep the people in!
Otherwise he suggests that such problems as climate change can be effectively handled by inter-national Government collaboration between two or more groups of bureaucrats and politicians. Cloud cuckoo land would adequately sum up my opinion of such a possibility.
And L. Brent Bozo was such a whack job that Buckley threw him out of the "conservative (bowel) movement" in 1972. Buckley himself was a charming piece of shit.
I use to be in awe of Buckley’s vocabulary.
Buckley's vocabulary was similar to the amazing vocabulary they taught to a chimpanzee.
I should be upset with your language. I'm not.