In a speech Saturday in Claremont, New Hampshire, and then in his Veterans Day greeting yesterday on social media, former president Trump echoed German Nazis.
Donald Trump has now made it clear that he is a fascist and he takes his playbook directly from fascists of the past. Comparing him to Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler is no longer far-fetched. It is time to call out this aspiring fascist for what and who he is.
Donald Trump has consistently called out immigrants as a dangerous and malevolent enemy. He has also voiced concern that having so many immigrants will overwhelm the white people of this country. It is almost exactly the same reasoning Hitler utilized to turn the German people against the Jews. The comparison between Donald Trump, and fascists of the past is becoming quite chilling. And now he is relying on the heritage foundation to write his playbook for making America an authoritarian and fascist regime with their 2025 plan. Donald Trump has also vowed to use the justice department to exact retribution against anyone who opposes him. With this latest threat, he is attempting to suppress any criticism of him or his plans.
He conveniently forgets that he is the grandson and son of immigrants, and that two of his three wives were also, um, immigrants. And oh, those anchor babies.
He doesn't have the same view of white European immigrants as he does of immigrants of colour. Let's be honest. He is not anti-immigrant. He's perfectly at ease with his wife and in-laws immigrating from Slovenia. He rejects immigrants of colour. It's immigration from Latin America, the Middle East, South and East Asia, and Africa that he fights against. He's just as racist against Americans whose parents and grandparents were already born in the USA but who are not white.
Annis, I am in total agreement with you, but was moved to laughter at the juxtaposition. Leisure suits are such an old joke, but BURGUNDY leisure suit and the thought of DT’s hair in conjunction with the basic truths was just too irresistible. Please forgive.
And without their money he would be a used car salesman wearing a blue leisure suit, gold chains and selling cars without the titles. All the while trying to bang everyone's wife and girlfriends.
Definitely burgundy - shiny polyester with large lapels and flared pants. I used to be a "garmento". They would sell like hot cakes for a few years. And don't forget the print nylon shirt - collar nicely placed over those lapels.
But to complete the look, he'll need to let his hair down. Yikes!
Nah. Lock him up in the 'vermin camps'. Clad in nothing but his underpants. A diaper? OK. But they'll still elect him if given the chance. Those Adolf Addicts just can't get enough, so, give 'em their Addie in his underpants!
Actually, great-grandson. I went to high school with Steve Miller’s mother and her brothers. I’ve lost touch with her, but his uncles and I are in touch. They are seriously not fans of his.
His maternal grandparents, Ruth and Izzy, were the loveliest people. It’s a mercy they’re not here to see what he’s become.
It was only eight paragraphs into today’s letter before the name, Miller, came up. I expect that he is the chief influence and true “author” of that terrifying, disgusting campaign speech. He glommed on to Trump early on t
He really doesn't seem to understand that at a different time, in a different place, HE would have been considered the "vermin" he's so eager to be rid of. Even his former rabbi is ashamed of what he's become.
Somebody needs to stuff him back into the locker he escaped from when they were tired of his antics in high school.
And this ancient UNC-CH (oldest public university in the country, hit by the Koch brothers and North Carolina Republicans because it was “liberal”) would like to remind everyone that Stephen Miller went to tobacco-funded, Johnny-come-lately Duke.
I grew up in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. My grandfather, Abraham Stoller, was the baker who supplied Glosser Bros. with rye bread and pumpernickel for many years. He was friends with Sam Glosser. The whole family knew the Glosser's. He would be appalled by Stephen Miller.
So when will Melania be sent to a deportation camp and the worthless eater kid of hers? Might as well send her parents to the camp while you're at it. Their contribution to our economy was babysitting Barron. And now they are likely collecting social security illegally since they probably didn't actually work the 10 quarters to qualify.
And then Jr., Eric, and Ivanka should also be deported under TFFGs policies. Of course, they would need to spend time in the concentration camps, er, deportation camps while they waited months to be deported.
Just a little bit of hypocrisy shown by the lard-ass TFFG dontcha think?
I must have missed the metamorphosis from TFG to TFFG. Is the extra F denoting a particularly apt swear word, or something else (like Fat, Foolish, Feebleminded, Failed, Fake, Farcical, Fatuous, Feckless, and so on, take your pick)?
Great laugh, and maybe it’ll catch on . I can’t remember who initiated TFFG but I was likely the second to have the hilarious reaction...and it STUCK LIKE GLUE!
I wish I thought it was funny. Not much makes me happy, thinking about that ... person. Rex Tillerson had it right when he said, "He's a f**ing moron."
I first saw it used here in the comment section of HCR's newsletter. I think someone else questioned the extra F and the reply was 'F**king'. I don't read the comments in many places so I not sure if TFFG is in vogue elsewhere.
That puts a whole “new face” on Donald Jr and Eric testifying. Obviously they need to be put in camps until we can deport them and in a different camp from their father and step mother.
Marc, I can’t imagine a more astute reply than the one Rachel Maddow presented this evening. Starting with the question, “What is the institution that decides we never can espouse things” like your foregoing observations “and also be part of said institution, also represent them,” Maddow asserts, “there is only 1. It’s Trump’s political party. And when he is running to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States, he is contending to lead that party, while promising that he will build camps to hold millions of people in this country, and he will use the military against American civilians here at home, and his political opponents are vermin who will be crushed and exterminated.”
Maddow continues, “This is Trump testing the political party he says he is going to lead. Testing to see what they will tolerate as an institution. Which means every single member of that party will now have to answer whether this is who they are, whether this is what they stand for, whether this is the cause of their party.”
Maddow concludes, “A country under threat stands up for itself when the institutions that make up the civic and political life of that country stand up and say what they are for and what they can no longer stand.” She finishes by reinforcing “there is only 1 institution in this country that is implicated by what Trump is doing and he is testing them and that is the point where we are right now. Trump has forced it there.”
Gloria, Before answering your question I would note that I viewed Maddow’s statement as providing Democrats with a script for inextricably linking their Republican counterparts, were they to remain silent, with every element of Trump’s terrifying 2025 plan. I repeatedly will press them to frame Republicans accordingly. As for your question, while I don’t have a precise answer, I am quite certain that camps built to hold millions will be used for purposes other than those thus far enumerated.
operated from officials provided by Republican dominated states, mind you, the ones which have made gerrymandering a science. Regardless of tit for tat by Democratic states, the Dems must move to change electoral laws IF they can get sufficient political power.
Frank, Thank you for extending my remarks. As for Dems reforming electoral rules, discounting Manchin and Sinema, we must hold our 49 Senate seats, flip one Senate Republican seat, hold the White House, and retake the House. All doable.
Hitler tested poison gas in vans to get rid of the disabled. Who knows what Republicans might think up given that already we know what a Republican member of Congress said about Americans in “senior living” at the beginning of the Covid epidemic.
Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick openly stated the elderly should be consigned to die as Covid progressed, and he announced this standing next to a high risk patient (Abbot).
May I offer condolences these many years later? Even as a child I saw newsreels and photos of the horrors of WWII and more recently read Timothy Snyder’s books about atrocities in the East. Every act of violence hurts all of us whether or not we know it. “Ask not for whom the bell tolls,/ It tolls for thee.” John Donne
It was very chilling hear Rachel’s words tonight. We are in a very dire situation, one that is very worrisome. This raving lunatic along with the Jew who is a people hater, Stephen Miller, belong in isolated cells.
Marlene, As I wrote to Gloria, who is part of this thread, in my view, Maddow gave Democrats a structure for amplifying the complicity of every Republican who fails to differentiate him or herself from parts of Trump’s 2025 Plan that intentionally were leaked.
This is from Jen Psaki's interview with Jonathan Karl regarding TFFG-
"He lacks any shred of human decency, humility or caring," a former White House official told Karl. "He is morally bankrupt, breathtakingly dishonest, lethally incompetent and stunningly ignorant of virutually anything related to governing, history, geography, human events or world affairs. He is a traitor and a malignancy in the nation, and represents a clear and present danger to our democracy and the rule of law."
Karl explained that the person was in the West Wing and worked alongside Trump for more than a year at a "high level." The key title is "official," indicating it wasn't a staffer or aide.
Jen Psaki and Nicole Wallace are very much on board with their criticisms of TFFG.
I would prefer that both TUMP and Miller be six feet underground in a cemetery. I am totally fed up with TFG and his numerous threats. TFG is one of the first of those asshats that should be deported.
he needs to be reduced to political irrelevance by an unassailable majority of American voters... of whom, about a half often don't bother to vote... i think deportation in prison rhetoric is overkill, and a little too close rhetorically to some of the actual fascist possibilities if Trump takes the White House...
Of course he needs to be voted away from any political office anywhere in the US, and his mouth shut by imprisonment following lawful conviction of his many crimes. But his followers need to be re-educated into not fearing their neighbors, including the new people moving into the neighborhood. The latter is the much harder endeavor, and I'm afraid it will take an exceptional amount of work over generations. As with fighting, correcting and reversing climate change to the extent humanly possible, I see this effort at changing the hearts and minds of our neighbors who think as TFFG does (well, in his case, "think" may be inapt, but whatever he does inside his skull, if anything) as the most important challenge in the modern world. It's vital, if you'll pardon the pun.
I am reading “Prequel” and heartily recommend it. Having been 7 years old in 1941 and in a very patriotic neighborhood, I remember nothing of the marching Nazis in America. But I keep thinking of the lean, Depression survivors who were drafted into WWII. Today many Americans have their health wrecked by Big Ag and Big Pharma.
Republicans will only have to answer for Trump’s language and behavior if the media push them to. If no one is asking the question, or if, when asked, they deflect and the interviewer doesn’t keep pushing, they will continue to have it both ways. I think Maddow is correct, but only if the media do their jobs. Case in point: the NYT headline cited by Heather.
Whenever DJ Treason speaks, it is self-reflective. Everything in this anti-American speech reeks of him and the end of democracy. RM points out the traitor's use of the word "fascists" so that it can't be applied to him. "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." St Peter, Acts 2:40
I COULD COMMIT MURDER ON FITH AVENUE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT AND GET AWAY WITH IT. TRUMP 2015. Nothing new her folks, just the Orange One telling you what he will do in 2025. And get away with it. Keep on moving folks, it's just the Boss making promises he will keep. You'll be OK. You is White and Red MAGA. You have nothing to worry about. There are million ahead of you who WILL be taken care of. Just keep shouting YES! And we'll know you are the good ones, safe from deportation and eligible to help carry out the Orange One's Mandate from the People. What are you looking at your queer? Get back in line and shut up. And get a haircut and learn how to man-up or be the woman God made you. And you, Boy. Put that sign down. You ain't one of us. Get over there with rest of the vermin and don't you dare talk back or talk to me without funny LA Guage that ain't American. Move along folks, nothing here to watch. The Boss is finally telling like it is. Nothing to worry about. Wait. What are you all looking at me for? I'm one of you. I served in Iraq. I'm almost White as you and you. What's wrong with you people? I gone to sixtee rallies and gave my Social Security payments to the cause. What? I'm Catholic, not Christian? Hey. Take your hand off me. Don't push me. Wait, don't chase my boy. Leave my dad alone. Why are you turning againgst me? BECAUSE YOU ARE VERMIN, A WANNABE MAGA, and Impure. YOU ARE SCUMB.
The full quote. Thank you. Twas my point. This bent toward smashing norms and vilifying those of us who are speaking out is frightening. And, those who are learning to hate us don't realize that they will not be special or protected from future persecution from those who will need to purge and purify the brand.
Not all immigrants. His mother immigrated from Scotland, his first wife from Czechoslovakia via Austria, his third wife from Slovenia. I saw a poster at a rally that put it succinctly: "if it weren't for immigrants, Trump wouldn't have any family."
Biden should use the insurrection act to protect us while this is going on, and especially on election night: Because Fascists don't need a majority to take over!
Trump’s 2025 Plan MUST be disconcerting to a couple of Republican Presidential contenders who are the children of immigrants from India. I expect Vivek and Nikki will be speaking up any day now. Just holding my breath….GASPING…..
Trump has been racist/fascist right from the start of his presidency and even before.He said the things he wanted to do and attempted some them. I always got the impression that the msm was "amused" at some of his"antics' when they were NEVER antics at all. I am seeing now that some of the media are "getting it" with him and his horrific vision for ending our democracy and imposing an authoritarian state with him as dictator. The Revenge Tour that he has in mind would put a lot of us into encampments and all of the other dystopian nightmares that he has in mind for us.This needs to be screamed from the rooftops and often.
We seem to forget that he's crazy....and, getting crazier by the day. Senility and loss of his estate and loss of Ivanka are making him really unhinged.
The benefit of this is that business owners who would normally vote Republican will flee to the Democrats in fear of loosing their inexpensive hard working reliable work force. Whites will not do that work, even if they are poor.
I have always found it incredible that he is so anti immigration when he is only 1st or 2nd generation American himself. And his wives are immigrants. But given his father’s fascist leanings, not that surprising I guess.
Wrong. He is calling "ILLEGAL" immigrants. Get the facts right.
You are delusional. He is talking about millions of people pouring over the border.
Nice try calling Trump a fascist. He was president for 4 years. There was no dictatorship.
There was no criminalization of political opponents.
As for using the justice department for political retribution, what do you call the last 3 years? The Democrats have criminalized political opposition. They went after parents
who attended school board meetings, they were caught monitoring churches, the FBI was caught spying over 200,000 Americans, they censored speech, used the IRS and FBI to go over political opposition.
As for Authoritarian rule, all you have to do is look at the COVID lock down. What states
were the most draconian in suppress rights and imposing authoritarian rules? The most democratic states. They locked down their citizens, censored speech, fired anyone who refused to take the vaccine. It was a dress rehearsal for a police state.
characterized by or holding false beliefs or judgments about external reality that are held despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, typically as a symptom of a mental condition.
"hospitalization for schizophrenia and delusional paranoia"
I was already comparing TFG to Hitler and Mussolini when he was Dictator in chief back the year 2018 after a reporter interviewed him then, the reporter had told TFG that there was a growing number of Americans that didn't like him, TFG replied, '' that's ok, they will like me sooner or later, or else. I decided then he had strong dictator ambitions after i heard that, and his statement angered me, and ignited my extreme dislike for him. I already despised him before he made that statement.
Was that when he demanded loyalty oaths from reporters? Just as Hitler and Goebbels did. Read your history carefully, because Hitler had men around him that were drunk on the "cool-aid" of the time.
Yes, i believe that was when he demanded loyalty oaths from reporters. I have watched many documentaries about Hitler and i remember that about him too. I also saw TFG get angry at a reporter and told the reporter, '' You don't talk to me like that,'' pointing his finger in the reporter's face. Interview over.
Yes, he also suspended several reporters from White House news conferences because they asked him tough questions! Of course, none were from Fox News! No politician/elected official would demand loyalty oaths unless they were authoritarian and self-serving!
I honestly didn't know about TFG suspending those reporters from the White House news conferences. However, i am not surprised at him doing that. TFG is an overbearing, unreasonable, Authoritarian, bully that thinks absolutely no one should question him, even though he is consistently lying and making false statements. He thinks anyone and everyone should bow down to him, not ever question his authority. He has called our veterans of war, Suckers and losers,'' and just yesterday he called legal immigrants, democrats, or, ''Radical Left Lunatics'' vermin. If this raging monster is elected, he wants total control of the Federal Government and install his own loyalists in all positions in our government. Project 2025 is the 925 page manifesto that he wants to employ. All of this is extremely disturbing to me and many others on the democratic side. If i could get my daughter and grandson to go along with me, i would seriously consider leaving the United States, preferably for New Brunswick, or Nova Scotia in Canada. It would be a rather costly action, but i have the resources to do that. I have to admit, i am scared and very upset that an insane and out of control maniac could be a Dictator right here in the United States. This is NOT supposed to be happening here, not ever. Someone, somewhere, needs to put this vicious animal Donald TUMP in a cage and throw away the key.
I am sorry for the rant, Mr. Wilkins, i am just terrified for the future of the United States.
I remember the reaction when the press reported not the first part of HRC’s speech, but the second part in which she used “deplorables” which the press latched onto as if it were the central word in the speech. That may be the result of our badly declining education system.
Virginia, that is why I am so ill-at-ease with the term "authoritarian".
I'm sure many people will think it means "having authority", but the main problem is that it is just too damned long... and sounds like an elitist word...
No slogan.
How would it have come out in To Kill A Mockingbird?
I was shocked and repulsed by him when he mocked a disabled reporter, again something right out of Hitler's playbook, as the disabled were targeted to be eliminated. I asked a Republican neighbor here in RED Florida how she could possibly vote for someone who would do such a thing, and her answer was, "Sometimes the ends justify the means." I wonder how many Republicans who thought that way and voted for him (in spite of all the evidence that this was not a man worthy of any respect) are now regretting what they unleashed on America!
Right Ally! Some of you may not want to read this. I knew some people once (they are dead and gone now), who were Einsatzkommando, Waffen SS , SA and Gestapo during WWII. If anyone thinks our MAGA neighbors won't vote for Trump then they are wrong, and very ordinary people (Polizei Battalion 101) will kill for him, even if they are told that they don't have to (see book by Christopher Browning). Then after the mess is cleaned up, (like the Reich in 1945) they will mostly become ordinary folks again, kind, loving, parent teachers and won't admit, maybe even remember a thing. It goes way beyond cognitive dissonance. I knew one "lovely" woman who (among other attrocities) typed out the list for the extermination of 300 Jewish children at Kulmhof Kill camp near Lodz in Poland at the age of 19 (1943). She grew up in and knew only Nazi Germany and could not think otherwise. She saw Jews and Roma as Vermin, no longer people, humans. After the war she was a lovely lady...not even an ounce of guilt. How long has MAGA been active?
This makes me ill! Both of my parents were victims of the Holocaust. They lost so many relatives, including my grandparents on my mother’s side. They were gassed. If it hadn’t been for Simon Wiesenthal and his Nazi hunters, these people hidden among us, Jews, gypsies, gays, and the disabled would have never gotten justice.
At least that explains why some people are MAGAts. I spent a couple of days recently with a child hood friend. He voted for TFFG twice. He doesn't care for Trump but can't bring himself to NOT vote for a Republican. When Trump put an 'R' behind his name, he automatically secured 20-25% of the vote. They have no clue what Trump says or does and they don't care. They will vote "R" regardless of who is on the ticket. It's very scary, but the same is true on the "D" side. We can only hope the numbers match up and don't skew MAGAt.
My hope, Ally House, is that there have to be some who regret, even though they aren't likely to admit it. But it at least may keep them from voting for Trump again.
Peter Thiel regrets supporting TFFG. I think his biggest loss of support is among the 6 feet under group. For a while those turning 18 were very likely to vote Democrat, but that may have turned around a bit.
Back in the day he seemed more of a loudmouthed anushole and I was irritated by people who seemed to use the words "Hitler" and "fascist" too casually. But Trump and what the Republican party has become has abandoned responsible conduct and decency, and are (ironically) a clear and present danger to the Republic. And certainly now those comparisons have become evidence-based.
There were early signs, but from the moment when the man's political language dragged the nation into the sewers -- the "new normal" -- the evidence was quite clear.
The "Central Park Five" case showed too much about this man.
In 2016 I was censored by the NYT for a very factual comment.
How so?
The algorithm found the word Hitler.
Here's what i wrote:
In 1943 my British naval officer father had to spend 5 months in Newcastle, England while his ship's engines were repaired.
In the hotel where we stayed he met and had long conversations with a retired journalist called Wilcox who had covered BOTH the Russian revolution AND Hitler's coming to power in 1933 as foreign correspondent for a newspaper called the News Chronicle.
Wilcox explained the phenomenal success of Hitler by his use of language.
Hitherto, political speeches in Germany had been formal and boring, modeled on... funeral oration...
Hitler screamed barrackroom and beer hall language...
It caught on like wildfire.
*
We all know the consequences. Or do we?
We need far far more retelling of the rise and fall of the dictatorships.
The most ignorant among the MAGA mob will love the rise and rise of Mussolini, the strutting, the Voice, the vast crowds' hysterical adulation...
They'll take to Hitler's ravings of conquest, his violent denunciation of Jews, Slavs, gypsies, all the colored peoples, his telling Germans "You are the Master Race"!
Then, the axeman, the guillotine, the concentration camps... Kristallnacht... Blitzkrieg...
They may still be excited by that.
But... the destruction of Poland, the defeat of France, the assault on Britain... the Blitz... destruction by the Luftwaffe by RAF fighter pilots...
Pearl Harbor, the Japanese sweep across Asia, the invasion of the Soviet Union... the 900 day siege of Leningrad, Stalingrad... the turning of the tide... the death camps, Auschwitz, Sobibor, Majdanek and all the others... the Warsaw ghetto, later, the destruction of Warsaw, when the Polish resistance fought to the death in the sewers and tunnels under the city... meanwhile, landings in Italy, in southern France, above all D-Day and the Normandy invasion.
Downfall. All Germany's major cities destroyed, the Red Army encircling and crushing Berlin... Mussolini's corpse hanging upside down from a meat hook in Milan... Hitler's suicide...
The A bombs destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders.
Who knows how many died? 60 000 000? Countless...
Must we risk all this again for the lunacy of Putin and Trump, the inhuman ambitions of men like Xi and Modi... to name only a few of the worst?
The world will not be safe so long as Trump and henchmen walk free. Their freedom is the most direct threat to that of all Americans... and far more than that.
Right there with you Peter. I’ve been calling him a fascist Hitler 2.0 for 8 long years now, the better part of a decade. I saw the writing on the wall the day he vilified Mexican people as rapists and bad people. When he refused to denounce the far right whites supremacists in Charleston, everyone should have known then. I’ve been called ridiculous, hyperbolic, and foolish for using the word fascist or comparing him to Hitler but I’ve never backed down. If we don’t defeat this bastard, it won’t just be camps for “illegal” immigrants as horrific as that alone is; it will be camps for anyone who isn’t pledged allegiance to him and his MAGA atrocity. In other words, you and me, our friends and families, and everyone we know and love.
If a sane group of "Republicans" don't emerge soon and denounce this horrific speech and this incredibly despicable plan (Project 2025, the camps, etc.) I fear for peace IN America.
It's been commented here that Trump and Company are like frightened cornered tigers - dangerous beyond words. Innocents may suffer in the conflict. Time to cage the beasts.
Well said, Bill. PFKAC (people formerly known as conservative) have GOT to cut the ties with the Nazi/Fascist bent of today's RepubliKan* party and disavow that philosophy.
*RepubliKan, where if I were able to indicate "to the 3rd power" with my laptop, the K's would be Klown Kar Kawkus or Ku Klux Klan. Besides, they've moved so far beyond the fantasy of Q Anon that the use of RepubliQan is outdated. Besides, a "k" is easier for me to type than a "q".
Remember Bill, that it took about ten years of fomentation for Hitler and his horde to come too power and another 6 years for the wheels to fall off completely. I believe the sane group of Republicans is in denial or hiding, and we can't rely on them. Just before I was born (at a MASH in Central Europe) my Dad (an SOE experienced Captain in the Allied Army) was made responsible for part of the de-Nazification of Northern German Sector (Oldenburg). I have direct oral history and discussions with ex Nazi's (No, we never took the Oath...BS) about their experiences and their hopes. Some were really, really really bad actors during WWII, and then not guilty, lambs, they made us. I fear for peace in America too, oh my beautiful America.
"A shrewd victor will, if possible, always present his demands to the vanquished in installments. And then, with a nation that has lost its character -and this is the case of every one which voluntarily submits - he can be sure that it will not regard one more of these individual oppressions as an adequate reason for taking up arms again." -Hitler, "Mein Kampf"
Recall that slavery was one considered so normative the eight presidents held slaves while in office (12 altogether). The function of effective social movements is commonly to draw attention to the elephant in the room.
Not only did the media turn a blind eye, some supposedly liberal outlets actively suppressed any comparison of his actions to those of Hitler or Mussolini…..and they still are. Currently, they are also 'protecting' the fascist utterances of DeSantis, the wannabe Mussolini if ever there was one. These days, I'm having a hard time discerning whether Trump's rants are 'tests of limits' or sheer out of control ravings of a mortally wounded narcissist….not to diminish the danger of either, given his following.
Oh heck, then feed those hand wringers the stories of home grown fascist movements right here in the US of A. Look no further than Timothy Egan's compelling "A Fever in the Heartland" or Rachel Maddow's incredible podcast series "Ultra". These kinds of stories, as well as these Letters, successfully expose these pearl clutchers for what they are.
Dismiss all you like. Getting people to pay attention to anything going on in the world outside their own kitchens is hard enough without the press actively suppressing concerns of those who actually see what's going on. At least hand wringers and pearl clutchers have some awareness of the world, which is better than living in a coma.
On the way to an early dr’s appointment Joe Scarborough was lambasting the Times headline. I read this same opinion repeatedly yesterday. Is it possible that public opinion can bring MSM back from their horse race/ all sides reporting?
As Orwell knew well, language is powerful. Republicans have been pulling politcal debate into increasingly (literally) uncivilized territory for many years. I recall, for example, a Republican lawmaker shouting out "you lie" to Obama's state of the union address. As ALWAYS, always, they can dish it out, but they sure can't take it: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/activist-faces-jail-time-laughing-during-sessions-hearing-n754326
Nothing more reprehensible than laughter in tyrants' eyes. Why, the first thing Putin did on coming to power was to have a satirical muppet show lampooning public figures taken off the air...
It seems difficult to satirize America's Apprentice Antichrist. Plainly, millions of Americans have no sense of the ridiculous or the grotesque.
I gave up commercial TV a long time ago, and never saw "The Apprentice". By reputation the climax of the show would be Trump yelling "You're fired", as close as the wannabee tyrant could get, at that point, to "Off with their heads".
... I am lost on this page - near impossible to find anything - cutting in and out - as though I am being prevented from commenting or conversing ... it's been more than 4 hours now ... need to direct time and energies into a more coherent focus ... wishing all the best to you - and all ... peace and love through it all ... see you in the fifth dimension!!
I lost you, Kathleen, without trace. A pity, for you are onto something fundamental.
I can see that there can be a serious problem when these comments threads descend into babel and we are, in effect, burying what we wish to share... golden needles in a haystack.
Did you receive anything re. Survival International?
My feeling is that we and people like that need to get together and change our perspective. This is about more than the survival of threatened tribes in the depths of rain forests. Their survival and that of mankind are intimately linked -- and THAT is what needs to be understood.
A huge challenge to those who believe or desperately want to believe thelselves "better" than other members of the human race.
Know-nothings destroying those who really do know something. Something different. Something precious to them... and potentially, to all mankind.
Like the native Americans who saved the Cartier expedition from certain death in the continental winter.
Like the African slaves who showed European settlers how to farm under the subtropical conditions of the Deep South...
Thank you Peter - my page keeps cutting in and out - bouncing back and forth - losing the thread ... I did not receive anything about Survival International - just looked it up ...:
Earth dwellers in less developed areas seem to be generally defenseless against the imposition of societal trends - after all, we need our air conditioners and such - Steven Donziger's ongoing challenges paint a grim picture ... people on Turtle Island have some legal grounds to defend their rights with the "Supremacy Clause" in the Constitution - as hard as it is to overcome the prejudice that they are "uncivilized savage sub-humans" of no count who need to be 'brought around'... some go ahead and sell mineral rights and access to drill for oil, rewarded by monies to buy fancy cars and clothes - join the All American popularity parade - a lot of people are organizing and speaking up - in and out of court - they are not going away - I only can hope enough people in mainstream society take them seriously and stand up for their rights to cultural self determination and religious freedom to honor traditions and raise their own children ... it is an ongoing battle - Indigenous women and children go missing or murdered ... many people in so-called "white society" seems to be threatened by anybody's freedom other than their own ... it boggles the already boggled mind!
I can't wrestle with these pages much - enjoy your comments and appreciate your suggestions when I can find them ... Robert B. Hubbell writes a sensible Substsck page - might be more accessible ... I have ongoing security issues either way ... will let you know if an avenue of communication opens up ... in the meantime, here are a couple of links for your listening pleasure:
Shakuhachi Japanese Bamboo Flute Meditation & Relaxation Music
“When two irreducible elements are locked in a struggle, the only solution is force," Mussolini said on Jan. 3, 1925, as he declared the start of dictatorship in Italy. America may never become a one-party state on the classic Fascist model, but Trump and his GOP enablers carry forth this Fascist mentality. We must take their speech seriously as declarations of intent to wreck American democracy and engage in persecution on a large scale as part of that process.”
You're right. The error many in the US and beyond made was to look at Hitler and Mussolini in 1938-1940, when their totalitarian states were fully in place. We forget that this didn't happen overnight. In the case of the NSDAP, it received less than 40% of the vote, and its vote share had gone down to 32% when Hitler became chancellor in January 1933. It took another 3 years to achieve Gleichschaltung - the Nazification of all institutions, public, private and community-based - which is what delivered a totalitarian system. Before 1933, they had gradually gained the leadership of many regional and city administrations, and on that, they built their power. They eviscerated the Weimar Republic from within. Not because the Weimar Republic was weak, as has been argued, but because the Nazis played to win at all costs, and used all and any means at their disposal - legal means, cheating, financial pressure, targeted division and isolation of enemies, political and social violence. They deliberately made the country ungovernable, then said they were the only ones who could provide order. In that, they were greatly assisted by Stalin's USSR - another totalitarian state - which financed and "supported" (i.e. told them what to do) the German communists, who refused to work with any other party, including the democratic socialists, against the Nazis.
“I used to rig card games for a living. I’d watch people sit down and lose everything Again and again. But they didn’t lose because they “played by the rules“ and we didn’t. They lost because it wasn’t a game. It just looked like one. Democrats think it’s a game.” From Derek Delgado on Twitter years ago. Still true.
Yes it is. I read the Death of Democracy, getting the book at the Holocaust Museum in D.C. back in 2016. What is happening here has so much correlation that it is scary. Dems continue to try to play the rules not using them to the fullest extent. Like "due process" and it current interpretation of graduated punishment. That is NOT due process as a legal scholar once advised me in the handling of discipline at school. What it is in the most simple terms: notification of the charges, hearing, then judgement. The wealthy have co-opted that idea to mean this start at the lowest punishment, then go up the ladder. The liberals have bought into the game. Can anyone imagine where this country would be today it 45 had been arrested on J7? All of his "political" prisoners would be on the run and not be so unconcerned and boastful.
Exactly. Gingrich did a masterful job over and above what Reagan did in convincing voters of how "corrupt" democrats were while he and his cronies were doing the same things, even worse. Democrats did little to combat them. As Nicole Wallace once said "Democrats are more afraid of republicans than republicans are of democrats." She should know as she worked for republicans. Matthew Dowd also said that democrats fight these battles with one had behind their back - the upper hand. Both statements so true.
Republicans don't seem to be afraid of Republicans even though they are their worst enemy. It's like the Ukraine War. The Russian saboteurs are doing some major damage inside Russia. Many war machine factories have been heavily damage or completely destroyed. High ranking officials have been assassinated by the saboteurs and the Kremlin. But yet, we read about the battles in Ukraine to the exclusion of many of the events terrorizing Russia from the inside.
HCR, the hypocritical neo-fascist Vampire Liberal, comes out firmly in favor of low-wage exploitation of underprivileged, poorly-educated immigrants who don't have a voice.
HCR warns us that Trump's imagined immigrant-expulsion policy would "strip the nation of millions of workers" and "shatter the economy, sparking sky-high prices, especially of food."
That's right, if we can't get away with exploiting wage-slave immigrants, then comfortable Vampire Liberals like HCR will have to pay more at the store.
At least Trump himself has made his plans clear before the election. In doing so, he's helped support the future of democracy. The polls showing Trump's strength are highly suspect. That said, because of many now-familiar factors Biden isn't a strong candidate despite his awe-inspiring accomplishments. Otherwise the election result would be a foregone conclusion.
But with Republicans trying to manipulate the election with no-chance-in-hell thirty-party candidates, voter suppression, and shenanigans yet to materialize, from now until Election Day will be filled with building anxiety. In the end, my bet is on a free America.
Also, let’s put this in context of the position tfg has put himself in. All he knows is the con. Now he’s under dire legal jeopardy from many directions. His NY business is toast. He’s doubling down to act as if he’s the meanest, baddest, most powerful autocrat the world has ever seen. He’s cornered, and he’s terrified.
He’s gathered around himself power-mad sycophant lieutenants and staff who are all flawed and for whom serving under him is their last chance to grab the golden ring. If he loses, they’re has-beens. So they’re going all in too.
And you’ve got the cynical plutocrat opportunists wanting obscene riches and foreign tyrants and their oligarchs trying to bring America to its knees or as an ally for their predation. Together they’ve assembled a propaganda machine that truly is dangerous, but even Fox is being challenged and loses in the courts.
Then you have his followers. You’ve got true believers who worship their anti-Christ wannabe as a savior. Many of them are conned by power-mad pastors whose view of God has nothing to do with the core teachings of Jesus. So they preach old Testament vengeance. And you’ve got those who feel all is chaos unless they’ve got an authoritarian on the golden toilet who ruthlessly imposes solutions to all problems, solvable and insolvable. Father-complex anyone?
This is what we’re up against. They’re trying to wear us down. We need to get out the vote and beat them again and again until enough of their pols (Lindsay Graham and other sellouts) realize they’ll lose with MAGA messaging.
I will keep saying this: Voting is important, but I don't think it will be enough. Fascists don't wait to win a majority! So, VOTE, but also be ready to fight the next coup.
Votes are inherently very serious business, but I also like to think that my vote for Democrats is a virtual pie (or worse) in the face of Trump, et al.
I agree, although I think of evil as a collective madness and individuals as role players. Whatever forces were/are behind Hitler and other tyrants worldly and occult, may be acting here, and they can empower individuals but aren’t ultimate. All isn’t lost. We’re undergoing upheaval and transformation.
Evil isn’t ultimate in the sense that the deepest, shared aliveness interconnects all of us beyond ego. When you tap into that — you can’t fully grasp it, because it’s larger than an individual consciousness, you experience a love beyond any prior experience. There’s also abundant psi research that demonstrates we’re all interconnected (see The Conscious Universe by Dean Radin, and I’m sure others).
You can’t embody all of the deadly sins unless you’re objectifying others and egotistically projecting a self-image that identifies with power, not love. Briefly, I’ve had non-dual breakthroughs in meditation and a NDE. It’s too much to lay out in this blog.
What can you do? “Be the person your dog thinks you are.” ;-)
This is very scarry stuff and I’ve been having nightmares. The idea that he’s going to “take out” [i.e., kill] his enemies has already started with death threats against Jack Smith and his family. Not to mention trying to kill Nancy but battering her 80+ husband with a hammer. Are people closing their eyes and ears or too stupid to understand this lunatic is deadly serious? His words to the military this past weekend are so hypocritical – recall he called dead soldiers losers and suckers when Gen. John Kelly was COS – Recall his son Robert was killed instantly from a land mine in Afghanistan 13 years ago – age 29. So many have given their lives to protect us but this this vile snake oil maggot is spreading Nazi hate and many are believing him.
I like to assume that the Republicans in Congress are all cowards for not calling out TFFG and his Fascist followers. But, I wonder how many of them have received threats when they have spoken out? Any idea?
Question: if we were in trouble as a nation....which we are....do you think DT would offer himself as a sacrifice to save us?The answer we know to be true regarding DT's concern is "NO...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" BUT I AM WILLING TO SACRIFICE YOU...ALL YOU ARE...EVERY FREEDOM YOU DEEM AS PRECIOUS...EVEN YOUR VERY LIVES....THE LIVES OF YOUR CHILDREN....THE AIR WE BREATHE...CLEAN WATER...FORGET THE POOR OR THOSE WITH PHYSCAL NEEDS OR THOSE WHO ARE NOT "WHITE" (unless you are a person of color who is totally devoted to MY (DT'S) concerns or needs.....) FORGET OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM (our children will be brainwashed....the truth will be according to DT operatives....history and possibly science will be rewritten....)DT WILL SHOUT OUT, "FREEDOM" IS FOR ME ALONE!!! I WILL RECREATE A NEW IDEA OF "FREEDOM".
That is who he is...we know it....we have seen it in his life. He should not be allowed to run as a candidate for "dog catcher"...much less President of the United States of America.
The only one who is happy about all of these political struggles for power/control (as well as the fighting in Israel/Gaza) is Putin. As we are drawn more and more within this tangled web, in which no one wins and innocents are being slaughtered...Putin is seizing his opportunity to weaken us....to divide us. DT is a small pawn under Putin's influence. We need to wake up and guard our freedoms while we have them!!!!
Trump is also sending a clarion call to the very large numbers of Americans who have now bought into the narrative that "white people are under attack", "affirmative action is robbing white children of a future", "white people need to "take back" America".
These Americans, who have somehow convinced themselves they are victims while sitting in front of a TV set all day eating potato chips and getting fat, not doing any work at all, will VOTE for Trump.
Presumably, Trump voters want an even EASIER life than they already have by sitting on ass all day long watching TV.
Where I came from, there are a lot of Trump supporters that work construction jobs, laborers, mostly blue collar...they are white people who live in the burbs of cities with a large ghetto, who look at the world as “us and them”. They are parents of policemen and firefighters who hear of the horror of mental illness and drug addiction.
It’s a dangerous consciousness but they don’t see it that way.
No doubt, among the large number of Trump supporters who are not working and have time to go to the Capitol and riot and commit treason, there must be some that are. Just statistically speaking they cannot ALL be sitting on arse all day. Just most of them.
As for consuming Nazi propaganda funded by Russia for American consumption, yep, they actively "work" to do that.
Many of the supporters who went to the Capitol were employed. And many who continue to support him today can be found working in the Capitol (House and Senate), in state and local governments, in real estate offices and hedge funds, in schools and colleges, in the media, on farms and in retail, in religious organizations, and across the spectrum of paid employment. It is a serious mistake to dismiss "most of them" as sitting on their arses all day.
Agreed. Mike may be thinking about retirees. And let's not forget that many of our police and military are fascists as well. We can only hope that their top leadership are true patriots who will honor and respect the Constitution.
I'm trying to be realistic based on the circumstances. Brimming with optimism I'm not. I can imagine scenarios that the fascists are planning that would disrupt polling and sink Biden and democracy. Or the U.S. is dragged into a war in the Middle East, or the economy takes a serious hit.
But we should also keep in mind realistic scenarios that would help our cause — Trump goes to jail, his increasing paranoia and disjointed slurred ramblings force him to quit, and so on.
So, you and millions of others think “Biden isn’t a strong candidate despite his awe-inspiring accomplishments,” but you do think Republicans are trying to manipulate the election? Coincidence? I think not.
I’m sure you’ve picked up on the egregious disconnect between Biden’s accomplishments (which I suspect in a general sense of helping Americans and the world, even exceed those of Obama, who I also really respect) and the nonstop MSM messaging of “he’s old, not viable, yada yada…” I suspect that this disinformation stream is once again nefarious in origin, of which we only experienced a sampling in 2016 - that was just an experiment, to see how gullible Americans are. Like Goebbel’s Big Lie, repeat anything often (“he’s old”) and soon enough, everyone buys into it and can’t think of anything else. Yeah, he’s old, and yeah, he’s kicking ass. What we need in a POTUS is someone to kick some serious ass, not someone who just happens to be young. Mike Johnson is young…. Now if they’re young AND strong, I’m totally down for that. Get on with it, Progressives, I’ll wait…..
HCR, the hypocritical neo-fascist Vampire Liberal, comes out firmly in favor of low-wage exploitation of underprivileged, poorly-educated immigrants who don't have a voice.
HCR warns us that Trump's imagined immigrant-expulsion policy would "strip the nation of millions of workers" and "shatter the economy, sparking sky-high prices, especially of food."
That's right, if we can't get away with exploiting wage-slave immigrants, then comfortable Vampire Liberals like HCR will have to pay more at the store.
Marc, In my view, calling out Trump must entail challenging MSM’s application of normative rhetorical coverage of an obviously asymmetrical upcoming general election. While I don’t have a ready answer, there must be an alternative to our remaining essentially anxious spectators because we’re not in the proverbial rooms where election season coverage decisions are made.
J L, The term that leaped off the screen was “strategic.” Because I believe we’re all acutely aware of the dire consequences of the current coverage, I’m banking on a better mind than mine to advise where we might go from here.
28th April 1945: The bodies of Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci, his mistress, hang from the roof of a gasoline station after they had been shot by anti-Fascist forces while attempting to escape to Switzerland. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
Bruce, In my view, Biden has to enlist a charismatic squad to go to where the trouble is in this country, the trouble that Donald Trump is stoking, and show they can work on legitimate issues and grievances.
Very good point Barbara, and I agree, as one step. But that will just not be enough, in my view. That should have been done a long time ago, also. By the way, tell your view to Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman...oh no, you can't....the fascists killed them. Sorry if I sound arrogant, I'm pissed off.
Bruce, Moving on, perhaps we should consider whether Trump is running to win or whether he’s running to take power. Because I believe the latter, I also believe that last time was mere practice for what is happening now to lay the groundwork for Trump and his allies to return to power whether or not they win enough votes. Accordingly, attention must be paid.
He won’t go away, no matter what. Do we need more proof. Nature may take its course, but his cult may be like the Incas who paraded their ruler mummies around as if still powerful. After all that orange make up and $7,000 haircuts can work wonders…
I don’t think it was practice. As mentioned, he is basically uneducated, lacking knowledge of history and government. When he surprisingly won election, he was absolutely clueless as to what that meant, what powers he had, what he could do. It was nearly a year before he started to get the big picture.I might add, Miller was already behind him with his evil ideas and eager support. Then began his climb on the fascistic path. Putin “ befriending” fed his his ego, and off he went.
It has been clear that Trump was a fascist for a long time. I won't say which event, but it was certainly clear when White Supremacists marched on Charlotteville, VA that he was going in a direction not previously made so clear by previous Republican presidents, which was to side with fascistic behavior in the USA.
I have pointed out that the Republican party is The New American Nazi Party, because a lot of what is going on reminds me of Hitler's rise to power. This has been a while in the making. I find that Prof. Kathleen Belew gives us good insight into the White Power movement in her book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674286078
She discusses the use of The Turner Diaries as a blueprint for action to achieve an all White Nation State.
Also, having read what is called a children's book, but my husband and I feel is an important read documenting an escape by a Jewish family from Hiter's Germany.
So, it is chilling, but it has been clear for a while that Trump wants to be a fascist dictator. Who knows whether his deteriorating mental condition will allow him to be propped up in this megalomaniacal role by the financial backers of Project 2025, an agenda for fascism.
I believe this Nazi/fascist bent is shaped and steered by Stephen Miller, and that Trumps speech was written by him. trump is especially malleable to those who can channel his narcissism and fears.
There are lots of moving parts going on under the surface that will cement an authoritarian system in place in this country. Trump is the hate spewing face that appeals to a base that foments chaos. But there are detailed plans for lasting institutional change are the ultimate goal under Trump's distractions. There are being ignored by the mainstream media.
Pillar II of the Heritage Foundation's campaign to remake government is now in play. Project 2025 is the manifesto, but Pillar II is the staffing up of the operation. You can read more below.
Donald Trump is sowing the seeds for a smashing repudiation next November. This is not the Dirty Thirties. Americans are not living through the worst Depression in history, nor is the world. The conditions are all wrong for a fascist takeover, and Americans, duly (and daily) provoked by warned by a burned out real estate thug, are going to rise up and deliver the final blow to this aging man-child. That is, if the courts don’t do the job first.
It is time for Democrats to be canny, not filled with paranoid dread. Time to use the stiletto and kill this nightmare set of lunatic ideas with the death of a thousand cuts. The warning messages - no need to dignify the aspiring dictator by calling them “attack ads” are being written even now and Trump will provide more fodder with even more violent rhetoric in the next months. He is in full panic mode now - a dispiriting but enlightening spectacle to watch.
If Trump had a shred of dignity or a moral compass that had somehow gone awry, this would have all the makings of a Greek tragedy. This clearly not being the case, America is simply going to take out the garbage.
My only concern is that somehow fear and panic will spread into Democratic Party and a late movement to oust Biden for his age will sweep the party and eat away at its resolve.
Stand firm on the left. Take up your “stilettos” and inflict a thousand cuts in all the usual ways - donating, volunteering, spreading the ringing message of Democracy, and of course, voting when the time comes.
And watch the outside world. The governments of several countries we all can think of would like nothing better than to prop up Trump and get him back into power. This will be for them a Sisyphean project, akin to making Saddam Hussein’s statue stand up again after it was pulled down. Nonetheless the dudes in Russia and China are playing for keeps. They too have to be called out.
Trump’s fever dream is hastening his demise. The courts can push it along. The people on the right who have integrity could find the integrity to deny Trump even the nomination. However Americans for democracy will not depend on a savior this time. They have been let down in the past. This time “we the people” will deliver the blow that consigns Trump and his deformed crowd to permanent ignominy.
America is ready for this task. It promises to be a redeeming moment in American history.
Our legal system, which he, ironically.... (like all criminals with access to lawyers who’ll say and do anything to try to win their case)...is using, to try to delay bankruptcy and incarceration, is coming for him. Jack Smith, Fani Willis and many others are doing their jobs with great dedication and purpose; they understand how important their job is; they are prevailing because they have the facts right. The Neo Confederates, ready to attack our democracy will continue to be with us. Many will continue to try to hurt our democracy after trump is gone from cable news 24/7 media cycle. We’ll have other real problems but we’ll overcome them, too.
Our democracy held during the Civil War, Great Depression, WWII and others like them which were much more serious tests. Democracy is the best form of government there is. Autocrats ... would be, and actual...tremble before it for good reason.
I agree, and his mouth and written word comes directly from Bannon and Miller. He is a very dangerous puppet at this time. Trump needs to be stopped via conviction with the sentencing being banned from politics or half of America being against him. Please keep in mind that both Germany and Italy in 1939 were in complete economic crisis. That is what welcomed fascism into those desparate countries.A huge majority of citizens supported these powerful and promising tyrants. Citizens that later faced the wrath of these horrible dictators. And what group of people is Bannon/Miller going after? The Hispanics that he rallied to in Florida the week before? All Arabs countries, except the ones he does business with?
And both Hitler and Mosilini were powerful speakers, Trump is not.
Let’s get through the indictments and see what the sentencing becomes. But I assure you this, if he keeps making speeches like that, more GOPs will start to think twice about him. And a third party will be created.
Biden needs to speak on the aftermath of Hitler and Mussolini. German women walking the streets looking for food.
For Il Duce:
“As World War II wound down, Benito Mussolini scrambled, unsuccessfully, to outrun his enemies. After they captured and killed him, his body was subjected to a strange journey that lasted for more than a decade.”
It is time for the MSM to cover Trump's speeches/language and remind everyone that he is parroting Hitler and that his intention is to follow the fascist path . He is already successful in convincing his base.
I live with and care for my 100-year-old father, a WWII veteran and glider pilot, who served proudly in the Air Force for almost 38 years. He fought in Europe, at the invasion of Sicily, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, and helped with the release of Jews from Buchenvald. He has read the English printing of Mein Kampf, and he is astounded and dismayed that people would vote for Hitler, aka Trump! He sees the reflections of what happened in Germany, happening here, and he is angry and very worried. He has nightmares, not about his time in WWII, but from watching PBS Newshour and reading the news.
I have programmed Alexa to remind us both several times each day: Take a deep breath and relax your shoulders...
Oh my goodness. I cannot fathom what it would be like to have served as your father did only to have to witness this horror in what should be a time of peace in his life. Much love to both of you.
Also, as a Jew who had great aunts and uncles and several first cousins once removed tortured and slaughtered in the war, I thank your father from the bottom of my heart.
He speaks freely now about his time in Europe, and his memory is amazing, from the warm funny personal stories, to the horrors no one should have to see, much less endure. During the January 6 riot, he gripped his armchair so hard his nails dug into the armrests, and his face turned white as we watched the unfolding spectacle, stunned. He has not recovered fully from that event, knowing that could be our future. He wants to live long enough to vote in 2024!
Elizabeth, reading his story/experience and his now witnessing the resurgence of this in OUR country must be devastating. Sounds, too, like it’s got his spirit up to defend democracy once again…his experience and stories are important for those who follow in his footsteps. My wish for him is that he will witness the American public thoroughly & clearly denouncing these anti-democratic moves. Give him a hug and thank you from me!
What a remarkable life he has lived! I hope he can survive with Alexa's help and yours to cast his vote next year. Please tell him that many of us share his concern.
My mother passed away in 2020 at age 91. She was a teenager during WW ll and had lifelong nightmares about Nazis. She couldn’t do the Women’s March or stand on the bridge with a sign, so She wrote daily political poems and limericks and posted them on her Facebook and email list. They were witty and caustic snapshots of the Trump admin and she had quite a following. When she became ill and was reconsidering dialysis, her question was, “Will I make it to November to vote?” Sadly, no. But she was celebrating somewhere when Biden won.
I have recorded video and audio of my Dad telling life stories, and I try to start recording when he shares his past with visitors and family members who ask. The local weekly newspaper has printed two stories about him, for Veterans Day editions. It's difficult to fit 100 years of living into a news article! I wish I had time to write his story, but I do cherish every day with him. He tells the best jokes! Last week, the dog was barking at something outside, and he turned to look, grinning, "Is there a Republican in the yard?!"
Your Father is an amazing man. I sincerely hope he lives on well past 2024 and gets to cast his vote next year. My Father served in the Air Force for 8 years during the Korean War. He only lived to be 78 years old and passed away 13 years ago. He was also a lifelong Democrat and would be appalled at the political scene if he was still alive.
Please add my gratitude to your father for all the sacrifices and daily small acts he made to be able to tell his story today. You are both as important today as educators as he was a soldier, being able and eager to bridge this time line. Thank you for your letter. I am inspired to carry this message.
My dad has spoken to the local 5th grade students, by invitation of our neighbor who teaches the class. He's going back to the classroom next week to talk about the dust bowl, and to answer students' questions. He really enjoys doing this. Last year, he left them with words of wisdom, pointing to each student, saying: Remember this - YOU are important and special and there is no one else like YOU!
May he live to see a hopeful tide of democracy rising strong! My dad, also a WWII vet, lived long enough to vote for Biden/Harris, and passed away that December. It is a relief that he did not have to witness the insurrection. Much respect and love to you and your father.
This is a shameful and cowardly time for journalism. And don’t think for a second that Trump won’t order some journalists jailed, making this dereliction of duty all the more bizarre.
Jennifer, please forgive my interruption of the thread: I read your profile, had my shaky hand push the thingy that sent me there.
Surprise! You are a remarkable human being--including your 'religion.' Shades of Celtic Christianity (did you know?)--including Muir and de Chardin in the recent 20th century. I believe either one of them would have liked you.
My father and his brother, my Uncle, both served in WWII. I grew up with stories of how dangerous the Nazi threat was and how it made the German population turn on one another. Then, once it became clear the Nazi's were losing the war, the German POWs all claimed they weren't Nazi's but were just following orders, afraid for their own lives if they disobeyed. No doubt, some truth there. But they also realized just how blinded they had been by Hitler. Unfortunately, this realization came far too late for the millions who died and were murdered.
Oh how I wish the "Greatest Generation" was still here to help educate and tell their personal stories -- and call Trump out for what he really is, a dangerous power-hungry snake oil salesman.
They taught us to value one another, to have reverence for the history and promise of our democratic institutions, and that ensuring democracy survived was worth giving their lives for. They speak through us now in our urgency to do all we can to save America and her democracy. Thank you, Dave for reminding me of all the things I am grateful for being taught, by the "greatest generation".
Thank you for the poignant reminder. Yes, of course, you're right. And it pains me that through all their suffering, strife, loss, and sacrifice not all that many years ago that there are millions of Americans today that are either ignorant or actively want to participate in Trump's bloodlust.
All the while the ghosts of those who experienced the horror of Hitler's Reich first hand are whispering to all who care to listen, "Never again".
Now it's our turn. Does America have what it takes to look beyond religious zealots, race hate, and grievance-based politics to stop this lunacy?
Dave, I agree, it is a somber truth that some of our fellow Americans want to participate in his self-described, bloodlust plans against us. Great word choice, Dave, "bloodlust". They believe their fierce anger and desire to commit violence is their strength. It's not.
We are stronger in our passion, a great deal more rational, and greater in number. And of late, I feel the ground shifting beneath us. A change is occuring. More people are waking up to the urgency and danger. Many are forging friendships. Others are setting aside disagreements, perhaps even disdain, to ally with one another. Our coalescing around our shared mission and patriotism for America, so deeply held in our hearts, is our strength. We are bringing together a diversity of skills and talents to employ in our sacred mission.
As more of us wake up and unite, we will grow even stronger. And if we remain bound together and relentless in our pursuit, I believe, we will prevail. America's democracy will prevail. Glory.
You know. Dave, the worst part is that the US harbored some of those Nazis here. Simon Wiesenthal was responsible in hunting them down here and in South America.
Yeah, I know. Very difficult decisions made in the heat of the moment then are easier to armchair quarterback now. Without question, we humans are a fallible, corrupt species.
The thing is, we have the ability to learn from our past and not repeat the same mistakes. I just don't think the GOP wants to...
I don't think so Marlene, simply because anyone can make a mistake for a myriad of reasons. They can realize their mistake and attempt to apologize or even rectify the consequences of their error. We can redeem ourselves today and in the future.
Elizabeth, I can relate. My father is 98 and reads the NYT cover-to-cover every day. He is aghast by what he sees happening. He and my 90 year old mom watch PBS and want to be involved, to contribute to the effort to retain Democracy, but feel frustrated by their extreme age. They both voted in the New York State special election last week, and sincerely hope to vote in 2024. My siblings and I, and our children carry on in their name.
Awesome! My dad likes to read The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and I recently subscribed to Mother Jones for him. His eyesight is failing, so it takes him longer now to finish articles, but he will not quit. He also loves Sudoku and crossword puzzles.
An elderly Jewish couple I knew who were born in Paris in the early 1930s, and both managed to escape capture while their families were murdered, came into my office when Trump was first elected, visibly shaking. They said, very simply, “We’ve seen this before.” I wished then, and now, their message was plastered all over TV.
I have a friend whose mother was a French Jew, who as a young girl, spent 3 years evading the German army. One of the things which helped her survive was every spring when the lilacs would bloom. I don't recall how or when she came to the US, but every spring she and my friend would go and "harvest" lilacs from trees growing around town.
Thanks Elizabeth. My family have been ANTIFA since the 16th Century. And I have been proud to count myself among them. They fought in many European theaters including Prussia, Russia, and Germany. Realize what ANTIFA stands for and you will understand why I, a "politics of the center" kind of person, proudly call myself ANTIFA.
Elizabeth, my daughter had shown me a video clip of a 100 year old veteran and he was wearing a military uniform and he was very upset about what is going on right now to the point he was in tears about the whole Fascist uprising here in the USA. I felt so bad for him because of those Domestic terrorists and TFG and their dystopian ambitions. Has a video clip of your Father been posted online or the social media thing? It's truly heartbreaking that there are so many evil and hate mongering people right here in the United States. The Fascist GQP.
Bless your father, Elizabeth! He is obviously alert and cognizant of the world’s daily news. You are lucky to have him and for him to have those memories.
My dad also fought in the Battle of the Bulge and my mom lost her brother in the war. What's happening to NYT's? With their bogus front page poll last week, which one year out, should not have been published. And their weak headliner of comparing Trump's speech to Hitler's. This should be a 'Pants On Fire' headline, not a casual 'Oh, look at what Trump said today'.
I was too young to serve in WWII, although my brother did, as a gunnery officer in the Pacific. Yet, I still can remember listening to some of Hitler's broadcasts. I couldn't understand the German then but the tone of his voice, shrill and menacing, left a deep impression on me. I remember remarking to my relatives in 2016 that Trump reminded me of Mussolini. And here it is again.
American voters need to wake up and stop thinking about their 'party' and start thinking about saving democracy. It's actually terrifying to know what these people are planning and trying to normalize.
But do they understand that Autocratic leaders don't let their people own guns. I guess they haven't thought that one through.
I saw a video today of Trump voter describing that those who received the covid vaccine are not humans anymore. Or the group of them that waited in Dallas last year for JFK to show up. They waited for months. I've been looking for Jesus at Starbucks, but no show. In America, your're free to be as dumb as a doorknob. Lucky us. Heavy sigh.
You are free to "pursue happiness" as you chose, but not free to impose unhappiness on others; and least not by irresponsible actions. I suppose we'd make Trump unhappy if, collectively, we just say "NO" to thugs, but them's the breaks.
JL, I don't see that happening in my little RepubliKan milieu that I have through Facebook. Formerly good, caring people are biting into that with relish. I don't get it.
All but one of my “friends” of that mindset have faded into the ether. The one that remains is an Ecuadorian immigrant. It astounds me that he, along with many of Miami’s Cuban population don’t understand that Miller’s hate includes them.
Government of, by and for the people runs on good faith conversation. Mass media has pros and cons, but the great big con is the degree it is top down, commercially (sell-you-something) oriented and encourage passivity. Genuine self-government cannot be just a choice of prepackaged items from someone else's menu. We have got to be more curious, and willing to converse and think.
I know one very old friend of my wife's family who seemed pleasant and insightful, who sank deep into the cult, cutting herself off from old friends. Some others less so, though they still defend all the Doublethink talking points. Cult ideology really seems like a "virus" that takes over the brain. Look up if you are not familiar, the "Heaven's Gate" cult. It's like believing MTG. I suspect that a lot of kids from authoritarian, extreme punishment-oriented families are driven into PTSD from infancy, and are thus rendered vulnerable to other forms of authoritarianism. One of our state representatives put forward a bill that would legalize all beating of children, so long as they were not left permanently, physically injured, citing "Biblical" authority. Thankfully it did not pass.
I know at least one politically "Conservative" person who is very bright, scrupulously honest, and kind in his relationships, but believes a lot of the MAGA propaganda. He voted for Trump, but now rejects him.
Does anyone really understand her point in doing so? Spoiler? Grandiose thoughts? Given our present electoral system, a 3rd party run is a spanner in the works, so what is the real intent? I learned my lesson by “taking the high road” and voting for Nader back in 2000 (was in a blue state, so my vote was lost in the crowd, but still…). I’ve cautioned younger voters who were considering 3rd party to really look at the impact of their vote. If we can ever abolish the Electoral College (or achieve passage of the Interstate Compact by enough states)…or maybe adopting rank choice voting…one does have to sometimes vote for the lesser of two evils. I do NOT put Biden/Harris in that statement as I believe they have surpassed expectations in a troubled time….experience, wisdom and humility count for a lot to me.
And, Biden is the best president of my lifetime, which began during the first summer of the Eisenhower ADministration. He will be remembered as one of the greats. He makes me feel that the wind's at my back. And yes: experience, wisdom, humility.
Assuming one's choice is confined to the lesser of two evils is only part of a story. Making the wisest choice between to options available is the other. If you cannot reach where you want to be, is foolish to backslide, and any movement forward is a step in the right direction. That's tactical. One also wants a strategy by which to gain more ground, yet be forced to deal with the situation at hand.
If a third party were to emerge and triumph, it would require either extraordinary circumstances or the building of the party over time to make it viable, such as running in smaller races they might win. Going though the motions in a tightly contested critical race there is virtually no chance they could win will mostly result in earning a huge block of sworn enemies. It seems to me that Nader was more influential before he ran and did not concede than after and helped GWB to win; few friends in either party.
I was in the same boat as you, voting for Nader when I concluded it wouldn't affect the election. In the two-party system we now have, I will never do so again, but I might reconsider if we had ranked choice voting (although it would have to be a much better candidate). This has worked in Alaska quite well according to my brother who lives in Anchorage.
I think the primary challenge by Dean Phillips could actually help Biden, just maybe. There would be debates that otherwise wouldn't happen and Biden would get a chance to showcase the administration's accomplishments. And also ideas that get presented to the public by other candidates might then be adopted by the Biden administration.
I can't explain either that, or her connection to Michael Flynn, also in that photo, if there is one. Actually, I suspect Putin might have reached out to her. I have no hard knowledge about that, but it seems the most plausible. Perhaps Putin reached her through Michael Flynn, but I think they contacted her, I don't think she contacted them. I don't think she would have thought of that. But again, I have no hard knowledge. I'm just guessing. It sure is weird though.
I just posted the letter to my Facebook page and reminded any Rs reading it that if they are not opposed to death star, then they too are fascists. We need to root these people out at every letter. As the final paragraph makes clear....they don't care.
Thinking of a political party, or any organization, as the ultimate end rather than a means to an end kind of reminds me of road rage. People in a mortal struggle to defend what is peripheral and cut of from what really matters. I'm not trying to say that party politics is unimportant, but it's important in a larger context. A livable climate is a much larger context, liberty and justice for ALL is a much larger context. Money is important, but so too is how it is acquired and for what it is spent. "Winning" can be important, but by what means? Differences of opinion are important but is that necessarily a problem? Nature thrives on diversity. What matters when we face our last days of life?
Guilty Donnie had the nerve to propose his fascist agenda on Veterans Day! Either he has no clue how many Americans fought and suffered, and even died to defeat the ideas he espouses during WWII, or else he disrespects their sacrifice and doesn't care who sees it.
EIther way, he is doubly a traitor and should be cast out of our society.
Here’s how TFG’s campaign responded to historian Jon Meacham’s statement on MSNBC’s Morning Joe (“To call your opponent vermin, to dehumanize them, is to not only open the door, but to walk through the door toward the most ghastly kinds of crimes.")
“Those who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told the Post in a statement.
Since TFFG was reading from a teleprompter for some of the speech, it made me wonder who actually wrote it…Stephen Miller or Jason Miller…or??? I hope those who previously voted for the Wreck-It-Ralph candidate now see the real life impacts and either choose to sit this one out, or even better, vote for Joe & Kamala.
"T----- derangement syndrome." That's what I heard about a million times during 2016-2020 whenever I posted against tffg on social media. It is supporters' way of completely dismissing anything anyone sane has to say.
Mary, thanks for that Axios article. I want to repeat your highlight of tffg's campaign spokesperson Stephen Cheung AND his lame backtracking when called on it:
"[T]hose who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told the Post in a statement.
Cheung later said he was referencing their "sad, miserable existence" instead of their "entire existence," the Post noted.
Unfortunately, 74 million voters favor Trump’s fascist plans, vermin and all. We might, if we do the legwork, outvote them, just barely, but they’ll still be doing everything they can to establish a Christo-fascist government.
Yes. We will. And yes, they won't give up. Fortunately, the majority of Gen Y and Gen Z are on the correct side of diversity, inclusion and justice. It is consoling to know that old white male bigots have an expiration date.
I know there are millions of what one might call "true Christians" - the ones who actually are interested in the teachings of Jesus. And there are thousands of pastors who teach that. Why haven't they organized in opposition to this fascistic version of their religion? Why so silent? Where are the preachers when you need them most?
And how can a "Pope" watch all this unfold without condemning it? Trying to repeat history, perhaps?
Bill, the people you are appropriately calling "true Christians" do organize to oppose fascism (both religious and political) and organize on behalf of those who need help. On FaceBook there is a group called the Clergy Emergency League that started in response to George Floyd's murder and the uprisings. In it, clergy share resources, sermon approaches, biblical interpretations, protesting options, and bolster one another in serving as "witnesses" at protests. The Clergy Emergency League is modeled on the Pastors' Emergency League that stood up to the Nazis. It was founded by Pastor Martin Niemöller who is best known for this statement:
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
You can read about Niemöller and other preachers during the Nazi era in a fascinating book called "Preaching in Hitler's Shadow: Sermons of Resistance in the Third Reich" edited by historian Dean Stroud. By the hundreds, preachers were rounded up when they refused to follow Hitler's orders, when they refused to pledge allegiance to Hitler over their allegiance to God.
Aside from the Clergy Emergency League churches, sponsor reading groups and social justice task forces that work in their communities. An ecumenical group called Christians Against Christian Nationalism holds webinars, offers articles and books, and all of their work is to teach and stand up for the teachings of Jesus.
Admittedly, a lot of the good work "true Christians" do is invisible (helping refugees get settled, supporting volunteer medical workers in rural communities, sponsoring after-school spaces for kids who need adults around... and on and on). On Ash Wednesday which begins the season of Lent, we Christians are told to give alms (do things for others, give to others), fast, and pray... more than usually.
The Gospel reading on Ash Wednesday is from Matthew 6. About giving, Jesus says: "when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. " In other words, don't go around boasting about how terrific you are. That's why it isn't obvious that churches are doing the things we wish we could see people of good will doing.
Yes, Bill. Advertising without preening one's feathers is a tough balance to maintain. We'll all have to work at it –– get the word out in small bits, perhaps. Thank you for the nudge that motivated me to contribute a little of that advertising. I found Heather's letter today to be so emotionally difficult that thinking about the good efforts of the opposition calmed me some. Peace.
I would like to do my own "small bit" by quoting your comment in a substack letter of my own. I went to the website. I love it. I love the "statement"!
Would you like full attribution or wish to be anonymous? I could make you "famous" with a couple hundred people. Ha Ha.
Yes. Nothing scares professional Republican politicall operatives more young voters. Republicans who know the score are scared to death of GenX,Y,andZ.
Yes, we can outvote them, but that won't change their attitudes. That is the larger challenge - how do we change people's minds so they'll stop fearing and hating their neighbors, and trying to repress and oppress them? And how do we get the media to stop treating the RWNJ faction as if there are "fine people" among them - there are emphatically NOT, if they can be good and kind to people of their same stripe, but fail to treat others the same, as if those others as somehow lesser. Why aren't the MSM and the other outlets that have the public ear screaming about this not-so-nascent fascism?
Lynn: I posted a response to your comment but don’t know where it went. At the risk of wasting even more space in the commentary, here it is again:
I don’t know the answers to your questions about the MSM, but I’m pretty sure that nobody without direct access to people making MSM decisions (which of course means none us little people consuming MSM content, nor even people like HCR or any of the MSM pundits, including MSNBC pundits, can influence those decisions. Those decisions are made by the suits in the executive suites. The suits are always the problem.
But I do know that changing people’s hearts and/or minds is a longterm project. Even professional counselors with direct access to the afflicted individuals (such as Republicans) cannot do that in the timeframe available to avoid the collapse of US democracy, which is now until the election in Nov 2024. All we can do is work to outvote Republicans in those elections. The hearts-and-minds project, if it could possibly succeed, ever, would require many more years and much more effort than any of us can manage.
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.
It will never be repaired if a start isn't made. These sad, fearful, hating people will go on fearing and hating and teaching them to their children indefinitely, forever, but we owe it to ourselves and to them, our neighbors, our fellow humans, to try.
This may be the most important work of our time, followed closely by correcting and reversing climate change.
I agree that trying to convert these sad, fearful, hating people to the side of decency is important, but at best it’s a very long term, not to mention long shot, project. It cannot have even the slightest effect on saving civilization, which is doomed by violence in fights for livable space if global warming is not curbed in the next decade, and global warming most certainly won’t be curbed in the next decade if Republicans have the presidency or majorities in either chamber of the legislature after 2024. So, we simply don’t have time to invest in hearts-and-minds projects. We need all the time and energy that the existing body of decent Americans can muster to put in place a US government that has any hope in hell of saving civilization.
By all means, plant a tree. That might help. But the hours you would need to invest to convert a single Republican to the side of decency and thereby increase the Democratic count by one and decrease the Republican count by one, for a net gain of two could, if invested wisely in GOTV, get at least 20 and probably more like 200 Democratic voters to the polls who would not otherwise have voted. Were going to need the extra 18 to 198 votes to have any chance at all of saving American democracy or curbing global warming.
He does disrespect veterans of any war and any branch of the Military. Remember he called them losers, treated John McCain with scorn, Trump said he couldn't respect a man who was captured by the enemy - all this coming from a coward who weaseled out of the draft by claiming bone spurs. I opposed the Vietnam war but never disrespected the men and women who served there.
Glad to see at least some headline writers are paying attention - shocked that all seemingly legit writers + established journalists are not. Their silence is frankly frightening . Couldn’t be happier that you wrote early and will have a regular bedtime 🫶🙏
Sob! We have seen this dehumanizing approach work before, even right here in the US. I saw the museum and memorial by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) (largely sponsored by Bryan Stephenson) in Montgomery, Alabama. The opening exhibit seeks to explain why so many accepted slavery to start with and how it went for so long. It started with dehumanizing. It worked.
I recall the threw-up-in-my-mouth feeling when hearing the TFFG refer to NYC nightclubs (and the hoochie-coochie he encountered there) as his “personal Vietnam”… made my blood boil. I have friends who did not return or who were forever changed (how could you not be) from the conflict there.
Barbara I agree that Trump’s hoochie-coochie ‘personal Vietnam’ statement ranks among Bone Spur’s most despicable statements, along with his pussy galore.
No need, Keith, to speak in the language of the fat orange demagogue.
We can do better. We can quote our good Dems who run for office with positive, constructive, needed programs. We can quote from our novelists, musicians, screenwriters, music reviewers, and memoirists who speak to those human needs abroad the land.
Soon speaking won't matter any more, Phil. Can't you see it? They don't care how you vote, or who wins the vote in 2024. They will try to take power no matter what you/I say, vote, protest or denounce in forums. Fascists do not wait to be given power my a majority, they never have, and never will. They take it. Be ready for that in Nov. 2024.
Our billionaires, like too many of our elites, have learned not to speak -- never to speak -- with reference to our humanities.
They are what Auden in "August, 1968" called the ogre. And the ogre, the dehumanized, as Auden ended that great, two-stanza poem, "cannot master speech."
I understand. And, speaking is our most valuable gift and defense, until, it seems history tells us, it isn't any more. It also seems like knowledge and wisdom (speaking) is useless until you put it into practice. My Dad was a Diplomat, and he said: "Bombing is the next step in diplomacy". Maybe that's where I get it from.
Bruce I was a Foreign Service Officer. After some rambunctious years in Congo, including rescuing over 3,000 foreign hostages under rebel death sentence, our ambassador in Saigon twice ‘invited’ me to join him and twice I refused. I did not believe in Vietnam that ‘Bombing is the next step in diplomacy.’
I didn't say my father saw eye to eye on this either, Keith. But he definitely influenced me, especially because of his experience fighting and culling Nazi's. It's also because of him that I never wanted to be in Public service.
Thank you for using the term fascists. It is an apt description. The media should be calling the party formerly known as the GOP as fascists and American Nazis (the real media, not the Gong Show of Fox News and other entertainment channels). The parallels to history of Germany in the 1930s is astonishing.
I don’t know how many readers you have, but for G-ds sake can we start doing something concrete rather than preaching to the choir, write to every dem leader and demand they speak out everyday calling the gop out as the fascist party led by an absolute fascist racist.
Call them all. The Republicans in my area hang up on me. I ask them if they would go to the doctors with me since they know more about Healthcare than my doctor. I need their input. Then I hear "click".
The most effective thing we can do as individuals is to contribute all the time and money we can afford to well-organized, get-out-the-vote campaigns targeting voters in swing states and swing districts. High turnout produces Democratic victories. Low turnout delivers Democratic losses. It’s as simple as that. Preaching, on the other hand, whether to the choir or seeking to convert enemy combatants, is an inefficient political activity and a luxury we can afford very little of.
Soon voting won't matter any more, Rex. Can't you see it? They don't care how you vote, or who wins the vote in 2024. They will try to take power no matter what you/I say, vote, protest or denounce in forums. Fascists do not wait to be given power my a majority, they never have, and never will. They take it. Be ready for that in Nov. 2024. Unless, as is your and my hope that the vote for Biden/Harris is a huge landslide...and even then. The Mango Muffin has declared himself and given all his followers jobs with a little power.
Trump’s threat to root out “vermin” at first drew a New York Times headline saying, “Trump Takes Veterans Day Speech in a Very Different Direction.”
I am doctor ordered not to read newspapers anymore (yup), so I don't get to see these gems.
Shame on the New York Times. Shame on them. Double triple quadruple shame on them. I don't know what the current politics are with them, but this is a journalistic crime.
You must not ignore ethical journalism. Citizen complacancy is the final ingredient as tyrants coalesce. Distract, devide, create fear, and complacancy is their recipe for fascists to succeed to authoritarian rule. Timothy Snyder's "On Tyrany" is a must guide to adsist us in averting the fall of democracy.
"In addition to being illegal and unconstitutional, such plans to strip the nation of millions of workers would shatter the economy, sparking sky-high prices, especially of food."
Can someone please explain why MAGAs are willing to shoot themselves in the foot?
Sophia, excuse me for being blunt here. But the GOP of the past is ‘dead’. It’s now the “GQP-Trumputin Party”. A bunch of racist, fascist, pigs! They have absolutely NO respect for the law, democracy, our Constitution, or American citizens. What they all actually are, is a bunch of bozos listening to a narcissistic sociopath who is a liar, cheat, rapist, treasonous traitor, and the lowest scum of the earth. He is only interested in listening to himself talk, having people cheer what he says, and having people do what he says. He thinks he’s “the Supreme Being”!
You've given a perfectly pitched definition of a septuagenarian toddler on steroids without guardrails. How can even ONE person follow him, let alone legions? In biblical terms, he's the closest thing to the depiction of the Antichrist....
And like the followers of any cult leader, they believe he speaks the truth. As we all know, he plays fast and loose with language, and he could care less about what happens to his base. When he gets rid of all those immigrants and there are millions of jobs unfilled we will see who they blame.
Jim Jones comes to mind when you speak of cults. What Fake 45 did was give “permission” to those who lived under a rock, to come out swinging. They did and still do. He allowed anger and hate to be the new normal. We cannot allow him or any other Repub to become the leader of our country ever again!
Not to mention all the agriculture work, crop harvesting, and tending to that won’t get done. Millions of acres will go to waste, again, because of this 🍓💩🤡 acting the fool! Only this time, millions may starve because the crops will rot in the fields instead of being dumped in the oceans like they were when he did away with all this country’s trade agreements worldwide!
You ask about "someone" who might explain the poisoning of the U.S.
Jane Mayer (friend of Heather Cox Richardson) has recently done so in her book "Dark Money."
Wendell Berry did so long before the billionaire classes elicited, programmed the mass poisoning -- in his, Wendell Berry's 1977 book, "The Unsettling of America."
Diane Ravitch did so in her 2003 book, "The Language Police," on how others of the billionaire classes killed humanities in U.S. K-12, replacing them with the standardized testing which reduces humanity instead to numbers, categories, demographics, linear-thinking only.
And there's Orwell, longest ago of all, whose "Politics and the English Language" in 1948 explained how all "shoot themselves in the foot" who never learn the decencies of humanities, but sink instead to the grouping, packaging, abstracting, and hating which our billionaire classes promote (see Jane Mayer, and the others, above).
Thank you for the reading list. You've laid out a good premise for a debate: Is "someone" poisoning the U.S., or is the U.S. allowing itself to be poisoned?
Sophia, the same two reasons as always: they're scared of the chump and his crazy violent followers; or, they agree with his agenda and their paycheck.
Sophia, because even more bluntly than Daniel, maybe. Don Mango Muffin is promising them power! They will get all the jobs he is promising for loyal followers.
Yup, been following it & his delay delay delay tactics….hmmm, wonder WHO he learned that from! He keeps stating that he will not go to jail….dunno about that, but I’d like him to, even just to wipe that cocky smirk off his face!
I wish every veteran living and deceased could hear Trump’s speech and in one loud voice say that we didn’t fight for a country that wanted to be like the Nazi’s!
What does it mean when someone says “I know you are but what am I?”
(rhetorical question, colloquial, childish) Assertion that an insult made by the party to whom the phrase is directed is actually true of that party, and not of the person using the phrase. Usually considered to be a playground taunt.
Donald Trump has now made it clear that he is a fascist and he takes his playbook directly from fascists of the past. Comparing him to Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler is no longer far-fetched. It is time to call out this aspiring fascist for what and who he is.
Donald Trump has consistently called out immigrants as a dangerous and malevolent enemy. He has also voiced concern that having so many immigrants will overwhelm the white people of this country. It is almost exactly the same reasoning Hitler utilized to turn the German people against the Jews. The comparison between Donald Trump, and fascists of the past is becoming quite chilling. And now he is relying on the heritage foundation to write his playbook for making America an authoritarian and fascist regime with their 2025 plan. Donald Trump has also vowed to use the justice department to exact retribution against anyone who opposes him. With this latest threat, he is attempting to suppress any criticism of him or his plans.
He conveniently forgets that he is the grandson and son of immigrants, and that two of his three wives were also, um, immigrants. And oh, those anchor babies.
He doesn't have the same view of white European immigrants as he does of immigrants of colour. Let's be honest. He is not anti-immigrant. He's perfectly at ease with his wife and in-laws immigrating from Slovenia. He rejects immigrants of colour. It's immigration from Latin America, the Middle East, South and East Asia, and Africa that he fights against. He's just as racist against Americans whose parents and grandparents were already born in the USA but who are not white.
How could you inject the real and terrible truth into the burgundy polyester suit-hair discussion?
Have I gone off-topic? Of course, it's a lot more important to criticize his clothes and hair.
Annis, I am in total agreement with you, but was moved to laughter at the juxtaposition. Leisure suits are such an old joke, but BURGUNDY leisure suit and the thought of DT’s hair in conjunction with the basic truths was just too irresistible. Please forgive.
Reality check here.
Love that, Virginia. There had to be something to laugh at here...and spill coffee.
Thank you, Sue Selman. Burgundy polyester and hair was too priceless to throw naked truth at.
And without their money he would be a used car salesman wearing a blue leisure suit, gold chains and selling cars without the titles. All the while trying to bang everyone's wife and girlfriends.
Or in prison.
Definitely burgundy - shiny polyester with large lapels and flared pants. I used to be a "garmento". They would sell like hot cakes for a few years. And don't forget the print nylon shirt - collar nicely placed over those lapels.
But to complete the look, he'll need to let his hair down. Yikes!
He would do a comb over to compliment his motel tan.
Nah. Lock him up in the 'vermin camps'. Clad in nothing but his underpants. A diaper? OK. But they'll still elect him if given the chance. Those Adolf Addicts just can't get enough, so, give 'em their Addie in his underpants!
Apart from the indigenous population, we are a "nation of immigrants" or the progeny thereof.
Agreed
While on my walk yesterday, I was depressed to see something new: a Trump flag hanging that states "TAKE AMERICA BACK"
My thought: from who?!?!
The sign means take America back into the Dark Ages Miselle.
You never ask questions when God's on your side.
Or enslaved persons.
Even the indigenous population's ancestors were from somewhere else. Humans have always been nomads.
And Stephen Miller is the grandson of immigrants. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/13/stephen-miller-is-an-immigration-hypocrite-i-know-because-im-his-uncle-219351/
Actually, great-grandson. I went to high school with Steve Miller’s mother and her brothers. I’ve lost touch with her, but his uncles and I are in touch. They are seriously not fans of his.
His maternal grandparents, Ruth and Izzy, were the loveliest people. It’s a mercy they’re not here to see what he’s become.
How appalled some of our ancestors would be.
It was only eight paragraphs into today’s letter before the name, Miller, came up. I expect that he is the chief influence and true “author” of that terrifying, disgusting campaign speech. He glommed on to Trump early on t
I think ol'Stevie is trying for Roy Cohn's crown. by all accounts, he appears to be succeeding.
to get his hatred out there (more likely self-hatred) and his influence has now reached the heights.
He really doesn't seem to understand that at a different time, in a different place, HE would have been considered the "vermin" he's so eager to be rid of. Even his former rabbi is ashamed of what he's become.
Somebody needs to stuff him back into the locker he escaped from when they were tired of his antics in high school.
And this ancient UNC-CH (oldest public university in the country, hit by the Koch brothers and North Carolina Republicans because it was “liberal”) would like to remind everyone that Stephen Miller went to tobacco-funded, Johnny-come-lately Duke.
Thank you ☺️ Heather Elowe--what a fascinating article--I wish everyone would read this! 🗽
Miller is a shanda to Jews everywhere! Grateful my parents, Holocaust victims aren’t alive.
I grew up in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. My grandfather, Abraham Stoller, was the baker who supplied Glosser Bros. with rye bread and pumpernickel for many years. He was friends with Sam Glosser. The whole family knew the Glosser's. He would be appalled by Stephen Miller.
Double standards are a standard with right-wing nationalists and fascists…
So when will Melania be sent to a deportation camp and the worthless eater kid of hers? Might as well send her parents to the camp while you're at it. Their contribution to our economy was babysitting Barron. And now they are likely collecting social security illegally since they probably didn't actually work the 10 quarters to qualify.
And then Jr., Eric, and Ivanka should also be deported under TFFGs policies. Of course, they would need to spend time in the concentration camps, er, deportation camps while they waited months to be deported.
Just a little bit of hypocrisy shown by the lard-ass TFFG dontcha think?
I must have missed the metamorphosis from TFG to TFFG. Is the extra F denoting a particularly apt swear word, or something else (like Fat, Foolish, Feebleminded, Failed, Fake, Farcical, Fatuous, Feckless, and so on, take your pick)?
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣...so now it’s TFFFFFFFFFFG?
Great laugh, and maybe it’ll catch on . I can’t remember who initiated TFFG but I was likely the second to have the hilarious reaction...and it STUCK LIKE GLUE!
Thanks mlbrowne☺️
I wish I thought it was funny. Not much makes me happy, thinking about that ... person. Rex Tillerson had it right when he said, "He's a f**ing moron."
I first saw it used here in the comment section of HCR's newsletter. I think someone else questioned the extra F and the reply was 'F**king'. I don't read the comments in many places so I not sure if TFFG is in vogue elsewhere.
I've seen it elsewhere, and have used it myself. That Failed Former Guy (although Feckless works well).
He didn’t forget; he doesn’t care. He’s sociopath
That puts a whole “new face” on Donald Jr and Eric testifying. Obviously they need to be put in camps until we can deport them and in a different camp from their father and step mother.
And different from where their children will go, of course.
Yeah, but, but, but...TRump's immigrant forebears are YT therefore they are "okay" (in his tiny twisted mind, at least)
Marc, I can’t imagine a more astute reply than the one Rachel Maddow presented this evening. Starting with the question, “What is the institution that decides we never can espouse things” like your foregoing observations “and also be part of said institution, also represent them,” Maddow asserts, “there is only 1. It’s Trump’s political party. And when he is running to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States, he is contending to lead that party, while promising that he will build camps to hold millions of people in this country, and he will use the military against American civilians here at home, and his political opponents are vermin who will be crushed and exterminated.”
Maddow continues, “This is Trump testing the political party he says he is going to lead. Testing to see what they will tolerate as an institution. Which means every single member of that party will now have to answer whether this is who they are, whether this is what they stand for, whether this is the cause of their party.”
Maddow concludes, “A country under threat stands up for itself when the institutions that make up the civic and political life of that country stand up and say what they are for and what they can no longer stand.” She finishes by reinforcing “there is only 1 institution in this country that is implicated by what Trump is doing and he is testing them and that is the point where we are right now. Trump has forced it there.”
“What now?” She asks.
Chilling. And what would Trump's administration decide to do with the "nonproductive" such as the disabled and elderly?
Gloria, Before answering your question I would note that I viewed Maddow’s statement as providing Democrats with a script for inextricably linking their Republican counterparts, were they to remain silent, with every element of Trump’s terrifying 2025 plan. I repeatedly will press them to frame Republicans accordingly. As for your question, while I don’t have a precise answer, I am quite certain that camps built to hold millions will be used for purposes other than those thus far enumerated.
operated from officials provided by Republican dominated states, mind you, the ones which have made gerrymandering a science. Regardless of tit for tat by Democratic states, the Dems must move to change electoral laws IF they can get sufficient political power.
Frank, Thank you for extending my remarks. As for Dems reforming electoral rules, discounting Manchin and Sinema, we must hold our 49 Senate seats, flip one Senate Republican seat, hold the White House, and retake the House. All doable.
Hitler tested poison gas in vans to get rid of the disabled. Who knows what Republicans might think up given that already we know what a Republican member of Congress said about Americans in “senior living” at the beginning of the Covid epidemic.
Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick openly stated the elderly should be consigned to die as Covid progressed, and he announced this standing next to a high risk patient (Abbot).
Not just the disabled. My grandparents were gassed in a van with 9 others at the camp known as Chelmno.
May I offer condolences these many years later? Even as a child I saw newsreels and photos of the horrors of WWII and more recently read Timothy Snyder’s books about atrocities in the East. Every act of violence hurts all of us whether or not we know it. “Ask not for whom the bell tolls,/ It tolls for thee.” John Donne
Is there a lampshade shortage?
You are one sick SOB.
Not funny. You're intellectually too far removed from the horror of that period.
STOP
Are you making a joke?
Sick joke, but one we should not ignore
Ick. Your wit is as dry as a tanned skin.
It was very chilling hear Rachel’s words tonight. We are in a very dire situation, one that is very worrisome. This raving lunatic along with the Jew who is a people hater, Stephen Miller, belong in isolated cells.
Marlene, As I wrote to Gloria, who is part of this thread, in my view, Maddow gave Democrats a structure for amplifying the complicity of every Republican who fails to differentiate him or herself from parts of Trump’s 2025 Plan that intentionally were leaked.
Yeah, the R’s are a nasty bunch
This is from Jen Psaki's interview with Jonathan Karl regarding TFFG-
"He lacks any shred of human decency, humility or caring," a former White House official told Karl. "He is morally bankrupt, breathtakingly dishonest, lethally incompetent and stunningly ignorant of virutually anything related to governing, history, geography, human events or world affairs. He is a traitor and a malignancy in the nation, and represents a clear and present danger to our democracy and the rule of law."
Karl explained that the person was in the West Wing and worked alongside Trump for more than a year at a "high level." The key title is "official," indicating it wasn't a staffer or aide.
Jen Psaki and Nicole Wallace are very much on board with their criticisms of TFFG.
The Psaki-Karl interview is really worthwhile.
Two very well informed and caring individuals display concern about this lurching evil threat to our nation. I wish I had room for the Karl book too.
The only way we can neutralize and defeat these neo-Nazi’s is with understanding the system and tools of Government.
might be better to drop "the Jew" descriptor here, Marlene.
Perhaps she was describing the astounding irony of a Jewish person speaking and acting like a Nazi.
Perhaps.....
Frank, I agree that Marlene needs to correct her statement and apologize for using the word Jew as it descriptor.
I would prefer that both TUMP and Miller be six feet underground in a cemetery. I am totally fed up with TFG and his numerous threats. TFG is one of the first of those asshats that should be deported.
he needs to be reduced to political irrelevance by an unassailable majority of American voters... of whom, about a half often don't bother to vote... i think deportation in prison rhetoric is overkill, and a little too close rhetorically to some of the actual fascist possibilities if Trump takes the White House...
Of course he needs to be voted away from any political office anywhere in the US, and his mouth shut by imprisonment following lawful conviction of his many crimes. But his followers need to be re-educated into not fearing their neighbors, including the new people moving into the neighborhood. The latter is the much harder endeavor, and I'm afraid it will take an exceptional amount of work over generations. As with fighting, correcting and reversing climate change to the extent humanly possible, I see this effort at changing the hearts and minds of our neighbors who think as TFFG does (well, in his case, "think" may be inapt, but whatever he does inside his skull, if anything) as the most important challenge in the modern world. It's vital, if you'll pardon the pun.
What other country would want him?
True. I wouldn't wish this on even our worst enemies.
I am reading “Prequel” and heartily recommend it. Having been 7 years old in 1941 and in a very patriotic neighborhood, I remember nothing of the marching Nazis in America. But I keep thinking of the lean, Depression survivors who were drafted into WWII. Today many Americans have their health wrecked by Big Ag and Big Pharma.
Republicans will only have to answer for Trump’s language and behavior if the media push them to. If no one is asking the question, or if, when asked, they deflect and the interviewer doesn’t keep pushing, they will continue to have it both ways. I think Maddow is correct, but only if the media do their jobs. Case in point: the NYT headline cited by Heather.
These headlines should be called out, as such. I know it is not the journalists who write them but they cannot be normalized.
Whenever DJ Treason speaks, it is self-reflective. Everything in this anti-American speech reeks of him and the end of democracy. RM points out the traitor's use of the word "fascists" so that it can't be applied to him. "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." St Peter, Acts 2:40
I COULD COMMIT MURDER ON FITH AVENUE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT AND GET AWAY WITH IT. TRUMP 2015. Nothing new her folks, just the Orange One telling you what he will do in 2025. And get away with it. Keep on moving folks, it's just the Boss making promises he will keep. You'll be OK. You is White and Red MAGA. You have nothing to worry about. There are million ahead of you who WILL be taken care of. Just keep shouting YES! And we'll know you are the good ones, safe from deportation and eligible to help carry out the Orange One's Mandate from the People. What are you looking at your queer? Get back in line and shut up. And get a haircut and learn how to man-up or be the woman God made you. And you, Boy. Put that sign down. You ain't one of us. Get over there with rest of the vermin and don't you dare talk back or talk to me without funny LA Guage that ain't American. Move along folks, nothing here to watch. The Boss is finally telling like it is. Nothing to worry about. Wait. What are you all looking at me for? I'm one of you. I served in Iraq. I'm almost White as you and you. What's wrong with you people? I gone to sixtee rallies and gave my Social Security payments to the cause. What? I'm Catholic, not Christian? Hey. Take your hand off me. Don't push me. Wait, don't chase my boy. Leave my dad alone. Why are you turning againgst me? BECAUSE YOU ARE VERMIN, A WANNABE MAGA, and Impure. YOU ARE SCUMB.
First they came for the Jews ....
Echos of Pastor Martin Niemoller
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
The full quote. Thank you. Twas my point. This bent toward smashing norms and vilifying those of us who are speaking out is frightening. And, those who are learning to hate us don't realize that they will not be special or protected from future persecution from those who will need to purge and purify the brand.
😭😭😭😡
Not all immigrants. His mother immigrated from Scotland, his first wife from Czechoslovakia via Austria, his third wife from Slovenia. I saw a poster at a rally that put it succinctly: "if it weren't for immigrants, Trump wouldn't have any family."
Biden should use the insurrection act to protect us while this is going on, and especially on election night: Because Fascists don't need a majority to take over!
“Fascists don’t need a majority to take over.” Thank you. We are learning that, I hope…
Excellent point. The nazis were the minority, the Italian fascist were too.
As our neighbors in Canada did in 1970 to fight Quebec radicals in the October Rising.
Trump’s 2025 Plan MUST be disconcerting to a couple of Republican Presidential contenders who are the children of immigrants from India. I expect Vivek and Nikki will be speaking up any day now. Just holding my breath….GASPING…..
You'll turn blue before either of them says anything about the RWNJs' anti-immigration and immigrant stance.
Yeah, Lynn…I’m already a Deep Purple….
Trump has been racist/fascist right from the start of his presidency and even before.He said the things he wanted to do and attempted some them. I always got the impression that the msm was "amused" at some of his"antics' when they were NEVER antics at all. I am seeing now that some of the media are "getting it" with him and his horrific vision for ending our democracy and imposing an authoritarian state with him as dictator. The Revenge Tour that he has in mind would put a lot of us into encampments and all of the other dystopian nightmares that he has in mind for us.This needs to be screamed from the rooftops and often.
We seem to forget that he's crazy....and, getting crazier by the day. Senility and loss of his estate and loss of Ivanka are making him really unhinged.
The benefit of this is that business owners who would normally vote Republican will flee to the Democrats in fear of loosing their inexpensive hard working reliable work force. Whites will not do that work, even if they are poor.
I have always found it incredible that he is so anti immigration when he is only 1st or 2nd generation American himself. And his wives are immigrants. But given his father’s fascist leanings, not that surprising I guess.
Wrong. He is calling "ILLEGAL" immigrants. Get the facts right.
You are delusional. He is talking about millions of people pouring over the border.
Nice try calling Trump a fascist. He was president for 4 years. There was no dictatorship.
There was no criminalization of political opponents.
As for using the justice department for political retribution, what do you call the last 3 years? The Democrats have criminalized political opposition. They went after parents
who attended school board meetings, they were caught monitoring churches, the FBI was caught spying over 200,000 Americans, they censored speech, used the IRS and FBI to go over political opposition.
As for Authoritarian rule, all you have to do is look at the COVID lock down. What states
were the most draconian in suppress rights and imposing authoritarian rules? The most democratic states. They locked down their citizens, censored speech, fired anyone who refused to take the vaccine. It was a dress rehearsal for a police state.
You are delusional.
Don’t feed the troll.
de·lu·sion·al
/dəˈlo͞oZH(ə)nəl/
adjective
characterized by or holding false beliefs or judgments about external reality that are held despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, typically as a symptom of a mental condition.
"hospitalization for schizophrenia and delusional paranoia"
Comparing Trump to Mussolini and Hitler NEVER WAS far-fetched.
It is refusal to see the obvious that was far-fetched.
I was already comparing TFG to Hitler and Mussolini when he was Dictator in chief back the year 2018 after a reporter interviewed him then, the reporter had told TFG that there was a growing number of Americans that didn't like him, TFG replied, '' that's ok, they will like me sooner or later, or else. I decided then he had strong dictator ambitions after i heard that, and his statement angered me, and ignited my extreme dislike for him. I already despised him before he made that statement.
Was that when he demanded loyalty oaths from reporters? Just as Hitler and Goebbels did. Read your history carefully, because Hitler had men around him that were drunk on the "cool-aid" of the time.
Yes, i believe that was when he demanded loyalty oaths from reporters. I have watched many documentaries about Hitler and i remember that about him too. I also saw TFG get angry at a reporter and told the reporter, '' You don't talk to me like that,'' pointing his finger in the reporter's face. Interview over.
Yes, he also suspended several reporters from White House news conferences because they asked him tough questions! Of course, none were from Fox News! No politician/elected official would demand loyalty oaths unless they were authoritarian and self-serving!
I honestly didn't know about TFG suspending those reporters from the White House news conferences. However, i am not surprised at him doing that. TFG is an overbearing, unreasonable, Authoritarian, bully that thinks absolutely no one should question him, even though he is consistently lying and making false statements. He thinks anyone and everyone should bow down to him, not ever question his authority. He has called our veterans of war, Suckers and losers,'' and just yesterday he called legal immigrants, democrats, or, ''Radical Left Lunatics'' vermin. If this raging monster is elected, he wants total control of the Federal Government and install his own loyalists in all positions in our government. Project 2025 is the 925 page manifesto that he wants to employ. All of this is extremely disturbing to me and many others on the democratic side. If i could get my daughter and grandson to go along with me, i would seriously consider leaving the United States, preferably for New Brunswick, or Nova Scotia in Canada. It would be a rather costly action, but i have the resources to do that. I have to admit, i am scared and very upset that an insane and out of control maniac could be a Dictator right here in the United States. This is NOT supposed to be happening here, not ever. Someone, somewhere, needs to put this vicious animal Donald TUMP in a cage and throw away the key.
I am sorry for the rant, Mr. Wilkins, i am just terrified for the future of the United States.
I remember the reaction when the press reported not the first part of HRC’s speech, but the second part in which she used “deplorables” which the press latched onto as if it were the central word in the speech. That may be the result of our badly declining education system.
The media is very complicit in any success the MAGA crowd has had! Ratings are more important to them than the welfare of America!
Virginia, that is why I am so ill-at-ease with the term "authoritarian".
I'm sure many people will think it means "having authority", but the main problem is that it is just too damned long... and sounds like an elitist word...
No slogan.
How would it have come out in To Kill A Mockingbird?
I was shocked and repulsed by him when he mocked a disabled reporter, again something right out of Hitler's playbook, as the disabled were targeted to be eliminated. I asked a Republican neighbor here in RED Florida how she could possibly vote for someone who would do such a thing, and her answer was, "Sometimes the ends justify the means." I wonder how many Republicans who thought that way and voted for him (in spite of all the evidence that this was not a man worthy of any respect) are now regretting what they unleashed on America!
I don't think they regret it at all. For some, there is cognitive dissonance, for others, they really do believe what he is spewing.
Right Ally! Some of you may not want to read this. I knew some people once (they are dead and gone now), who were Einsatzkommando, Waffen SS , SA and Gestapo during WWII. If anyone thinks our MAGA neighbors won't vote for Trump then they are wrong, and very ordinary people (Polizei Battalion 101) will kill for him, even if they are told that they don't have to (see book by Christopher Browning). Then after the mess is cleaned up, (like the Reich in 1945) they will mostly become ordinary folks again, kind, loving, parent teachers and won't admit, maybe even remember a thing. It goes way beyond cognitive dissonance. I knew one "lovely" woman who (among other attrocities) typed out the list for the extermination of 300 Jewish children at Kulmhof Kill camp near Lodz in Poland at the age of 19 (1943). She grew up in and knew only Nazi Germany and could not think otherwise. She saw Jews and Roma as Vermin, no longer people, humans. After the war she was a lovely lady...not even an ounce of guilt. How long has MAGA been active?
This makes me ill! Both of my parents were victims of the Holocaust. They lost so many relatives, including my grandparents on my mother’s side. They were gassed. If it hadn’t been for Simon Wiesenthal and his Nazi hunters, these people hidden among us, Jews, gypsies, gays, and the disabled would have never gotten justice.
At least that explains why some people are MAGAts. I spent a couple of days recently with a child hood friend. He voted for TFFG twice. He doesn't care for Trump but can't bring himself to NOT vote for a Republican. When Trump put an 'R' behind his name, he automatically secured 20-25% of the vote. They have no clue what Trump says or does and they don't care. They will vote "R" regardless of who is on the ticket. It's very scary, but the same is true on the "D" side. We can only hope the numbers match up and don't skew MAGAt.
My hope, Ally House, is that there have to be some who regret, even though they aren't likely to admit it. But it at least may keep them from voting for Trump again.
Peter Thiel regrets supporting TFFG. I think his biggest loss of support is among the 6 feet under group. For a while those turning 18 were very likely to vote Democrat, but that may have turned around a bit.
see below Carol
Per Brian Seltzer on MAGA voters: "Whoever the Democrats hate, that's who I like".
Whoa...can't imagine your neighbor even admitting to that.
It was at that point when I realized there was something very broken among a large portion of our population.
Sad but true, DLJohnson.
I've just posted a mainline comment written within days of the 2016 election on DT's dictatorial intentions...
One cog in Trump’s wheel (MAGA) is Stephen Miller. Some refer to him as Trump’s “Angel of Darkness!”
Back in the day he seemed more of a loudmouthed anushole and I was irritated by people who seemed to use the words "Hitler" and "fascist" too casually. But Trump and what the Republican party has become has abandoned responsible conduct and decency, and are (ironically) a clear and present danger to the Republic. And certainly now those comparisons have become evidence-based.
There were early signs, but from the moment when the man's political language dragged the nation into the sewers -- the "new normal" -- the evidence was quite clear.
The media turned a blind eye to this.
The world is still paying.
The "Central Park Five" case showed too much about this man.
In 2016 I was censored by the NYT for a very factual comment.
How so?
The algorithm found the word Hitler.
Here's what i wrote:
In 1943 my British naval officer father had to spend 5 months in Newcastle, England while his ship's engines were repaired.
In the hotel where we stayed he met and had long conversations with a retired journalist called Wilcox who had covered BOTH the Russian revolution AND Hitler's coming to power in 1933 as foreign correspondent for a newspaper called the News Chronicle.
Wilcox explained the phenomenal success of Hitler by his use of language.
Hitherto, political speeches in Germany had been formal and boring, modeled on... funeral oration...
Hitler screamed barrackroom and beer hall language...
It caught on like wildfire.
*
We all know the consequences. Or do we?
We need far far more retelling of the rise and fall of the dictatorships.
The most ignorant among the MAGA mob will love the rise and rise of Mussolini, the strutting, the Voice, the vast crowds' hysterical adulation...
They'll take to Hitler's ravings of conquest, his violent denunciation of Jews, Slavs, gypsies, all the colored peoples, his telling Germans "You are the Master Race"!
Then, the axeman, the guillotine, the concentration camps... Kristallnacht... Blitzkrieg...
They may still be excited by that.
But... the destruction of Poland, the defeat of France, the assault on Britain... the Blitz... destruction by the Luftwaffe by RAF fighter pilots...
Pearl Harbor, the Japanese sweep across Asia, the invasion of the Soviet Union... the 900 day siege of Leningrad, Stalingrad... the turning of the tide... the death camps, Auschwitz, Sobibor, Majdanek and all the others... the Warsaw ghetto, later, the destruction of Warsaw, when the Polish resistance fought to the death in the sewers and tunnels under the city... meanwhile, landings in Italy, in southern France, above all D-Day and the Normandy invasion.
Downfall. All Germany's major cities destroyed, the Red Army encircling and crushing Berlin... Mussolini's corpse hanging upside down from a meat hook in Milan... Hitler's suicide...
The A bombs destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders.
Who knows how many died? 60 000 000? Countless...
Must we risk all this again for the lunacy of Putin and Trump, the inhuman ambitions of men like Xi and Modi... to name only a few of the worst?
The world will not be safe so long as Trump and henchmen walk free. Their freedom is the most direct threat to that of all Americans... and far more than that.
Time to wake up and act before it is too late.
Right there with you Peter. I’ve been calling him a fascist Hitler 2.0 for 8 long years now, the better part of a decade. I saw the writing on the wall the day he vilified Mexican people as rapists and bad people. When he refused to denounce the far right whites supremacists in Charleston, everyone should have known then. I’ve been called ridiculous, hyperbolic, and foolish for using the word fascist or comparing him to Hitler but I’ve never backed down. If we don’t defeat this bastard, it won’t just be camps for “illegal” immigrants as horrific as that alone is; it will be camps for anyone who isn’t pledged allegiance to him and his MAGA atrocity. In other words, you and me, our friends and families, and everyone we know and love.
Charlottesville (VA); Charleston is SC.
If a sane group of "Republicans" don't emerge soon and denounce this horrific speech and this incredibly despicable plan (Project 2025, the camps, etc.) I fear for peace IN America.
It's been commented here that Trump and Company are like frightened cornered tigers - dangerous beyond words. Innocents may suffer in the conflict. Time to cage the beasts.
Well said, Bill. PFKAC (people formerly known as conservative) have GOT to cut the ties with the Nazi/Fascist bent of today's RepubliKan* party and disavow that philosophy.
*RepubliKan, where if I were able to indicate "to the 3rd power" with my laptop, the K's would be Klown Kar Kawkus or Ku Klux Klan. Besides, they've moved so far beyond the fantasy of Q Anon that the use of RepubliQan is outdated. Besides, a "k" is easier for me to type than a "q".
Remember Bill, that it took about ten years of fomentation for Hitler and his horde to come too power and another 6 years for the wheels to fall off completely. I believe the sane group of Republicans is in denial or hiding, and we can't rely on them. Just before I was born (at a MASH in Central Europe) my Dad (an SOE experienced Captain in the Allied Army) was made responsible for part of the de-Nazification of Northern German Sector (Oldenburg). I have direct oral history and discussions with ex Nazi's (No, we never took the Oath...BS) about their experiences and their hopes. Some were really, really really bad actors during WWII, and then not guilty, lambs, they made us. I fear for peace in America too, oh my beautiful America.
Very well put, Bill Alstrom.
Think a most of them are too comfortable where they are and truly fear trump's very well armed base.
"A shrewd victor will, if possible, always present his demands to the vanquished in installments. And then, with a nation that has lost its character -and this is the case of every one which voluntarily submits - he can be sure that it will not regard one more of these individual oppressions as an adequate reason for taking up arms again." -Hitler, "Mein Kampf"
Recall that slavery was one considered so normative the eight presidents held slaves while in office (12 altogether). The function of effective social movements is commonly to draw attention to the elephant in the room.
Not only did the media turn a blind eye, some supposedly liberal outlets actively suppressed any comparison of his actions to those of Hitler or Mussolini…..and they still are. Currently, they are also 'protecting' the fascist utterances of DeSantis, the wannabe Mussolini if ever there was one. These days, I'm having a hard time discerning whether Trump's rants are 'tests of limits' or sheer out of control ravings of a mortally wounded narcissist….not to diminish the danger of either, given his following.
Oh heck, then feed those hand wringers the stories of home grown fascist movements right here in the US of A. Look no further than Timothy Egan's compelling "A Fever in the Heartland" or Rachel Maddow's incredible podcast series "Ultra". These kinds of stories, as well as these Letters, successfully expose these pearl clutchers for what they are.
Dismiss all you like. Getting people to pay attention to anything going on in the world outside their own kitchens is hard enough without the press actively suppressing concerns of those who actually see what's going on. At least hand wringers and pearl clutchers have some awareness of the world, which is better than living in a coma.
MSM grifted off the grifter. Saw it all. MSM is sick.
THAT, S B Lewis, is a point that needs making again and again.
But isn't the media's sickness a major symptom of society's disease?
Another major symptom, upstream of MSM, the fast buck as the measure of all things.
On the way to an early dr’s appointment Joe Scarborough was lambasting the Times headline. I read this same opinion repeatedly yesterday. Is it possible that public opinion can bring MSM back from their horse race/ all sides reporting?
Words that should live in infamy:
"The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits."
- Milton Friedman
After sniffing out the stink with Nixon, it seemed MSM mostly ate out of Reagan's hand.
FASCIST SPEAK TRANSLATOR
https://infogram.com/fascist-speech-translator-1h0n25ye77w9z6p
Thanks, Kathleen, people should read this. But all the worst things the say about others tell us about themselves and their intentions...
Too true.
As Orwell knew well, language is powerful. Republicans have been pulling politcal debate into increasingly (literally) uncivilized territory for many years. I recall, for example, a Republican lawmaker shouting out "you lie" to Obama's state of the union address. As ALWAYS, always, they can dish it out, but they sure can't take it: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/activist-faces-jail-time-laughing-during-sessions-hearing-n754326
Nothing more reprehensible than laughter in tyrants' eyes. Why, the first thing Putin did on coming to power was to have a satirical muppet show lampooning public figures taken off the air...
It seems difficult to satirize America's Apprentice Antichrist. Plainly, millions of Americans have no sense of the ridiculous or the grotesque.
I gave up commercial TV a long time ago, and never saw "The Apprentice". By reputation the climax of the show would be Trump yelling "You're fired", as close as the wannabee tyrant could get, at that point, to "Off with their heads".
FASCIST SPEAK TRANSLATOR
https://infogram.com/fascist-speech-translator-1h0n25ye77w9z6p
... I am lost on this page - near impossible to find anything - cutting in and out - as though I am being prevented from commenting or conversing ... it's been more than 4 hours now ... need to direct time and energies into a more coherent focus ... wishing all the best to you - and all ... peace and love through it all ... see you in the fifth dimension!!
I lost you, Kathleen, without trace. A pity, for you are onto something fundamental.
I can see that there can be a serious problem when these comments threads descend into babel and we are, in effect, burying what we wish to share... golden needles in a haystack.
Did you receive anything re. Survival International?
My feeling is that we and people like that need to get together and change our perspective. This is about more than the survival of threatened tribes in the depths of rain forests. Their survival and that of mankind are intimately linked -- and THAT is what needs to be understood.
A huge challenge to those who believe or desperately want to believe thelselves "better" than other members of the human race.
Know-nothings destroying those who really do know something. Something different. Something precious to them... and potentially, to all mankind.
Like the native Americans who saved the Cartier expedition from certain death in the continental winter.
Like the African slaves who showed European settlers how to farm under the subtropical conditions of the Deep South...
Thank you Peter - my page keeps cutting in and out - bouncing back and forth - losing the thread ... I did not receive anything about Survival International - just looked it up ...:
Survival International
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_International
*****
https://www.survivalinternational.org
*****
https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes
*****
Earth dwellers in less developed areas seem to be generally defenseless against the imposition of societal trends - after all, we need our air conditioners and such - Steven Donziger's ongoing challenges paint a grim picture ... people on Turtle Island have some legal grounds to defend their rights with the "Supremacy Clause" in the Constitution - as hard as it is to overcome the prejudice that they are "uncivilized savage sub-humans" of no count who need to be 'brought around'... some go ahead and sell mineral rights and access to drill for oil, rewarded by monies to buy fancy cars and clothes - join the All American popularity parade - a lot of people are organizing and speaking up - in and out of court - they are not going away - I only can hope enough people in mainstream society take them seriously and stand up for their rights to cultural self determination and religious freedom to honor traditions and raise their own children ... it is an ongoing battle - Indigenous women and children go missing or murdered ... many people in so-called "white society" seems to be threatened by anybody's freedom other than their own ... it boggles the already boggled mind!
I can't wrestle with these pages much - enjoy your comments and appreciate your suggestions when I can find them ... Robert B. Hubbell writes a sensible Substsck page - might be more accessible ... I have ongoing security issues either way ... will let you know if an avenue of communication opens up ... in the meantime, here are a couple of links for your listening pleasure:
Shakuhachi Japanese Bamboo Flute Meditation & Relaxation Music
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gtevwfKTjP8
*****
Zen Stillness | 90 mins | Calm Shakuhachi Music for Yoga, Meditation, Relaxation and Peace | 尺八
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2YkKiXM4s
*****
Peace in one breath ... one breath at a time ... be well ..., ka
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Maya Angelou
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian of autocracy.⬇️
“When two irreducible elements are locked in a struggle, the only solution is force," Mussolini said on Jan. 3, 1925, as he declared the start of dictatorship in Italy. America may never become a one-party state on the classic Fascist model, but Trump and his GOP enablers carry forth this Fascist mentality. We must take their speech seriously as declarations of intent to wreck American democracy and engage in persecution on a large scale as part of that process.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/trump-really-doesnt-want-you-to-call?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
You're right. The error many in the US and beyond made was to look at Hitler and Mussolini in 1938-1940, when their totalitarian states were fully in place. We forget that this didn't happen overnight. In the case of the NSDAP, it received less than 40% of the vote, and its vote share had gone down to 32% when Hitler became chancellor in January 1933. It took another 3 years to achieve Gleichschaltung - the Nazification of all institutions, public, private and community-based - which is what delivered a totalitarian system. Before 1933, they had gradually gained the leadership of many regional and city administrations, and on that, they built their power. They eviscerated the Weimar Republic from within. Not because the Weimar Republic was weak, as has been argued, but because the Nazis played to win at all costs, and used all and any means at their disposal - legal means, cheating, financial pressure, targeted division and isolation of enemies, political and social violence. They deliberately made the country ungovernable, then said they were the only ones who could provide order. In that, they were greatly assisted by Stalin's USSR - another totalitarian state - which financed and "supported" (i.e. told them what to do) the German communists, who refused to work with any other party, including the democratic socialists, against the Nazis.
Yes, one side continues to plays by the rules while the other takes advantage of that to take over.
“I used to rig card games for a living. I’d watch people sit down and lose everything Again and again. But they didn’t lose because they “played by the rules“ and we didn’t. They lost because it wasn’t a game. It just looked like one. Democrats think it’s a game.” From Derek Delgado on Twitter years ago. Still true.
Yes it is. I read the Death of Democracy, getting the book at the Holocaust Museum in D.C. back in 2016. What is happening here has so much correlation that it is scary. Dems continue to try to play the rules not using them to the fullest extent. Like "due process" and it current interpretation of graduated punishment. That is NOT due process as a legal scholar once advised me in the handling of discipline at school. What it is in the most simple terms: notification of the charges, hearing, then judgement. The wealthy have co-opted that idea to mean this start at the lowest punishment, then go up the ladder. The liberals have bought into the game. Can anyone imagine where this country would be today it 45 had been arrested on J7? All of his "political" prisoners would be on the run and not be so unconcerned and boastful.
and delay, delay, delay. Not to mention the non-stop threats
And yet many believe both Democrats and Republicans to be equally 'dirty', and then they don't vote.
Exactly. Gingrich did a masterful job over and above what Reagan did in convincing voters of how "corrupt" democrats were while he and his cronies were doing the same things, even worse. Democrats did little to combat them. As Nicole Wallace once said "Democrats are more afraid of republicans than republicans are of democrats." She should know as she worked for republicans. Matthew Dowd also said that democrats fight these battles with one had behind their back - the upper hand. Both statements so true.
Republicans don't seem to be afraid of Republicans even though they are their worst enemy. It's like the Ukraine War. The Russian saboteurs are doing some major damage inside Russia. Many war machine factories have been heavily damage or completely destroyed. High ranking officials have been assassinated by the saboteurs and the Kremlin. But yet, we read about the battles in Ukraine to the exclusion of many of the events terrorizing Russia from the inside.
And the Us had our own Nazis to deal with. The Nazi convention in Madison Square Garden in 1939, for starters
Is that the one that Fred Trump attended?
No idea, I do have a copy of an article that addresses his attendance at a KKK rally. If memory serves; I may look for it.
House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Anne Applebaum was calling this out back in 2016
Exactly, was clear from the first utterance
Speaking of refusal to see the obvious:
HCR, the hypocritical neo-fascist Vampire Liberal, comes out firmly in favor of low-wage exploitation of underprivileged, poorly-educated immigrants who don't have a voice.
HCR warns us that Trump's imagined immigrant-expulsion policy would "strip the nation of millions of workers" and "shatter the economy, sparking sky-high prices, especially of food."
That's right, if we can't get away with exploiting wage-slave immigrants, then comfortable Vampire Liberals like HCR will have to pay more at the store.
At least Trump himself has made his plans clear before the election. In doing so, he's helped support the future of democracy. The polls showing Trump's strength are highly suspect. That said, because of many now-familiar factors Biden isn't a strong candidate despite his awe-inspiring accomplishments. Otherwise the election result would be a foregone conclusion.
But with Republicans trying to manipulate the election with no-chance-in-hell thirty-party candidates, voter suppression, and shenanigans yet to materialize, from now until Election Day will be filled with building anxiety. In the end, my bet is on a free America.
Also, let’s put this in context of the position tfg has put himself in. All he knows is the con. Now he’s under dire legal jeopardy from many directions. His NY business is toast. He’s doubling down to act as if he’s the meanest, baddest, most powerful autocrat the world has ever seen. He’s cornered, and he’s terrified.
He’s gathered around himself power-mad sycophant lieutenants and staff who are all flawed and for whom serving under him is their last chance to grab the golden ring. If he loses, they’re has-beens. So they’re going all in too.
And you’ve got the cynical plutocrat opportunists wanting obscene riches and foreign tyrants and their oligarchs trying to bring America to its knees or as an ally for their predation. Together they’ve assembled a propaganda machine that truly is dangerous, but even Fox is being challenged and loses in the courts.
Then you have his followers. You’ve got true believers who worship their anti-Christ wannabe as a savior. Many of them are conned by power-mad pastors whose view of God has nothing to do with the core teachings of Jesus. So they preach old Testament vengeance. And you’ve got those who feel all is chaos unless they’ve got an authoritarian on the golden toilet who ruthlessly imposes solutions to all problems, solvable and insolvable. Father-complex anyone?
This is what we’re up against. They’re trying to wear us down. We need to get out the vote and beat them again and again until enough of their pols (Lindsay Graham and other sellouts) realize they’ll lose with MAGA messaging.
I will keep saying this: Voting is important, but I don't think it will be enough. Fascists don't wait to win a majority! So, VOTE, but also be ready to fight the next coup.
Some states have been gaming the system, it will not be a normal election.
Votes are inherently very serious business, but I also like to think that my vote for Democrats is a virtual pie (or worse) in the face of Trump, et al.
Gary, i have been comparing Trump to the Anti Christ for a while. Here's why I think so:
Anti Christ-
*a person or force seen as opposing Christ or the Christian Church.
*a person or thing regarded as supremely evil.
*a great antagonist expected to fill the world with wickedness.
* will be the leader of a one-world governmental system.
* will possess charisma, intelligence ( this disqualifies him, though), and determination.
* a man of lawlessness.
Other than his not being Jewish, Trump possess these "qualities,"
I agree, although I think of evil as a collective madness and individuals as role players. Whatever forces were/are behind Hitler and other tyrants worldly and occult, may be acting here, and they can empower individuals but aren’t ultimate. All isn’t lost. We’re undergoing upheaval and transformation.
Evil isn’t ultimate in the sense that the deepest, shared aliveness interconnects all of us beyond ego. When you tap into that — you can’t fully grasp it, because it’s larger than an individual consciousness, you experience a love beyond any prior experience. There’s also abundant psi research that demonstrates we’re all interconnected (see The Conscious Universe by Dean Radin, and I’m sure others).
You can’t embody all of the deadly sins unless you’re objectifying others and egotistically projecting a self-image that identifies with power, not love. Briefly, I’ve had non-dual breakthroughs in meditation and a NDE. It’s too much to lay out in this blog.
What can you do? “Be the person your dog thinks you are.” ;-)
Thanks for the reply. As I said, it's a bit complicated for me to understand.
The Anti-Christ will supposedly be Jewish, but I'm delving into a topic that is very complicated, so I'll shut up.
No need to be completely literal. Whatever seer is quoted in the Bible said that very long ago.
Left the church, but nonetheless, the comparison has crossed my mind many times.
This is very scarry stuff and I’ve been having nightmares. The idea that he’s going to “take out” [i.e., kill] his enemies has already started with death threats against Jack Smith and his family. Not to mention trying to kill Nancy but battering her 80+ husband with a hammer. Are people closing their eyes and ears or too stupid to understand this lunatic is deadly serious? His words to the military this past weekend are so hypocritical – recall he called dead soldiers losers and suckers when Gen. John Kelly was COS – Recall his son Robert was killed instantly from a land mine in Afghanistan 13 years ago – age 29. So many have given their lives to protect us but this this vile snake oil maggot is spreading Nazi hate and many are believing him.
Linda-
I like to assume that the Republicans in Congress are all cowards for not calling out TFFG and his Fascist followers. But, I wonder how many of them have received threats when they have spoken out? Any idea?
Linda Force,
Trump tells us who he is everytime he speaks.
Question: if we were in trouble as a nation....which we are....do you think DT would offer himself as a sacrifice to save us?The answer we know to be true regarding DT's concern is "NO...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" BUT I AM WILLING TO SACRIFICE YOU...ALL YOU ARE...EVERY FREEDOM YOU DEEM AS PRECIOUS...EVEN YOUR VERY LIVES....THE LIVES OF YOUR CHILDREN....THE AIR WE BREATHE...CLEAN WATER...FORGET THE POOR OR THOSE WITH PHYSCAL NEEDS OR THOSE WHO ARE NOT "WHITE" (unless you are a person of color who is totally devoted to MY (DT'S) concerns or needs.....) FORGET OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM (our children will be brainwashed....the truth will be according to DT operatives....history and possibly science will be rewritten....)DT WILL SHOUT OUT, "FREEDOM" IS FOR ME ALONE!!! I WILL RECREATE A NEW IDEA OF "FREEDOM".
That is who he is...we know it....we have seen it in his life. He should not be allowed to run as a candidate for "dog catcher"...much less President of the United States of America.
The only one who is happy about all of these political struggles for power/control (as well as the fighting in Israel/Gaza) is Putin. As we are drawn more and more within this tangled web, in which no one wins and innocents are being slaughtered...Putin is seizing his opportunity to weaken us....to divide us. DT is a small pawn under Putin's influence. We need to wake up and guard our freedoms while we have them!!!!
Well said Linda.
Mine too, but the danger is real and the stakes are high.
Michael,
"he's helped support the future of democracy"
Trump is also sending a clarion call to the very large numbers of Americans who have now bought into the narrative that "white people are under attack", "affirmative action is robbing white children of a future", "white people need to "take back" America".
These Americans, who have somehow convinced themselves they are victims while sitting in front of a TV set all day eating potato chips and getting fat, not doing any work at all, will VOTE for Trump.
Presumably, Trump voters want an even EASIER life than they already have by sitting on ass all day long watching TV.
Where I came from, there are a lot of Trump supporters that work construction jobs, laborers, mostly blue collar...they are white people who live in the burbs of cities with a large ghetto, who look at the world as “us and them”. They are parents of policemen and firefighters who hear of the horror of mental illness and drug addiction.
It’s a dangerous consciousness but they don’t see it that way.
I know a number of extremely hard-working Trump supporters whose "news" sources are Newsmax, Breitbart, QAnon, and Fox.
No doubt, among the large number of Trump supporters who are not working and have time to go to the Capitol and riot and commit treason, there must be some that are. Just statistically speaking they cannot ALL be sitting on arse all day. Just most of them.
As for consuming Nazi propaganda funded by Russia for American consumption, yep, they actively "work" to do that.
Many of the supporters who went to the Capitol were employed. And many who continue to support him today can be found working in the Capitol (House and Senate), in state and local governments, in real estate offices and hedge funds, in schools and colleges, in the media, on farms and in retail, in religious organizations, and across the spectrum of paid employment. It is a serious mistake to dismiss "most of them" as sitting on their arses all day.
Agreed. Mike may be thinking about retirees. And let's not forget that many of our police and military are fascists as well. We can only hope that their top leadership are true patriots who will honor and respect the Constitution.
Too many other people only watch CNN and MSNBC.. works both ways
Neither one has worked to promulgate lies--like who really won the last election.
Agreed but CNN/MSBNC also thrive on sensationalism
All are not lazy or stupid. True believers in bull Schitt.
Hope you are right, but the manipulation is world-class
I wish I were as optimistic as you are.
I'm trying to be realistic based on the circumstances. Brimming with optimism I'm not. I can imagine scenarios that the fascists are planning that would disrupt polling and sink Biden and democracy. Or the U.S. is dragged into a war in the Middle East, or the economy takes a serious hit.
But we should also keep in mind realistic scenarios that would help our cause — Trump goes to jail, his increasing paranoia and disjointed slurred ramblings force him to quit, and so on.
So, you and millions of others think “Biden isn’t a strong candidate despite his awe-inspiring accomplishments,” but you do think Republicans are trying to manipulate the election? Coincidence? I think not.
Sorry, I don’t understand your point. The things I mention aren’t mutually exclusive.
I’m sure you’ve picked up on the egregious disconnect between Biden’s accomplishments (which I suspect in a general sense of helping Americans and the world, even exceed those of Obama, who I also really respect) and the nonstop MSM messaging of “he’s old, not viable, yada yada…” I suspect that this disinformation stream is once again nefarious in origin, of which we only experienced a sampling in 2016 - that was just an experiment, to see how gullible Americans are. Like Goebbel’s Big Lie, repeat anything often (“he’s old”) and soon enough, everyone buys into it and can’t think of anything else. Yeah, he’s old, and yeah, he’s kicking ass. What we need in a POTUS is someone to kick some serious ass, not someone who just happens to be young. Mike Johnson is young…. Now if they’re young AND strong, I’m totally down for that. Get on with it, Progressives, I’ll wait…..
HCR, the hypocritical neo-fascist Vampire Liberal, comes out firmly in favor of low-wage exploitation of underprivileged, poorly-educated immigrants who don't have a voice.
HCR warns us that Trump's imagined immigrant-expulsion policy would "strip the nation of millions of workers" and "shatter the economy, sparking sky-high prices, especially of food."
That's right, if we can't get away with exploiting wage-slave immigrants, then comfortable Vampire Liberals like HCR will have to pay more at the store.
Marc, In my view, calling out Trump must entail challenging MSM’s application of normative rhetorical coverage of an obviously asymmetrical upcoming general election. While I don’t have a ready answer, there must be an alternative to our remaining essentially anxious spectators because we’re not in the proverbial rooms where election season coverage decisions are made.
Somehow we need to make more noise, but be strategic about it.
J L, The term that leaped off the screen was “strategic.” Because I believe we’re all acutely aware of the dire consequences of the current coverage, I’m banking on a better mind than mine to advise where we might go from here.
Me too, but even better still when enough of us pull in the same direction.
Use photos. Pictures speak louder than words. Publish the deaths of despots like Ceausescu and Mussolini:
https://www.google.com/collections/s/list/GZy4WxFtOxNuOde01ankYcxSjUnOfg/KZT4QSNixD0
Ceausescu's execution
Photo
Mussolini Executed
28th April 1945: The bodies of Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci, his mistress, hang from the roof of a gasoline station after they had been shot by anti-Fascist forces while attempting to escape to Switzerland. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
https://www.google.com/collections/s/list/GZy4WxFtOxNuOde01ankYcxSjUnOfg/KZT4QSNixD0
Biden has to be ready to invoke the Insurrection act, and I don't mean theoretically.
Bruce, In my view, Biden has to enlist a charismatic squad to go to where the trouble is in this country, the trouble that Donald Trump is stoking, and show they can work on legitimate issues and grievances.
Very good point Barbara, and I agree, as one step. But that will just not be enough, in my view. That should have been done a long time ago, also. By the way, tell your view to Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman...oh no, you can't....the fascists killed them. Sorry if I sound arrogant, I'm pissed off.
Bruce, Moving on, perhaps we should consider whether Trump is running to win or whether he’s running to take power. Because I believe the latter, I also believe that last time was mere practice for what is happening now to lay the groundwork for Trump and his allies to return to power whether or not they win enough votes. Accordingly, attention must be paid.
He won’t go away, no matter what. Do we need more proof. Nature may take its course, but his cult may be like the Incas who paraded their ruler mummies around as if still powerful. After all that orange make up and $7,000 haircuts can work wonders…
I don’t think it was practice. As mentioned, he is basically uneducated, lacking knowledge of history and government. When he surprisingly won election, he was absolutely clueless as to what that meant, what powers he had, what he could do. It was nearly a year before he started to get the big picture.I might add, Miller was already behind him with his evil ideas and eager support. Then began his climb on the fascistic path. Putin “ befriending” fed his his ego, and off he went.
See most of my other comments, Barbara. I am with you!
It has been clear that Trump was a fascist for a long time. I won't say which event, but it was certainly clear when White Supremacists marched on Charlotteville, VA that he was going in a direction not previously made so clear by previous Republican presidents, which was to side with fascistic behavior in the USA.
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/11/637665414/a-year-after-charlottesville-not-much-has-changed-for-trump
I have pointed out that the Republican party is The New American Nazi Party, because a lot of what is going on reminds me of Hitler's rise to power. This has been a while in the making. I find that Prof. Kathleen Belew gives us good insight into the White Power movement in her book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674286078
She discusses the use of The Turner Diaries as a blueprint for action to achieve an all White Nation State.
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2004/turner-diaries-other-racist-novels-inspire-extremist-violence
Also, having read what is called a children's book, but my husband and I feel is an important read documenting an escape by a Jewish family from Hiter's Germany.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54283.When_Hitler_Stole_Pink_Rabbit
I think the movie is well done too. https://youtu.be/32PWCMHxViE?si=hgPSBvdf65FV63BP
So, it is chilling, but it has been clear for a while that Trump wants to be a fascist dictator. Who knows whether his deteriorating mental condition will allow him to be propped up in this megalomaniacal role by the financial backers of Project 2025, an agenda for fascism.
https://www.project2025.org/ The possibility is truly frightening.
I believe this Nazi/fascist bent is shaped and steered by Stephen Miller, and that Trumps speech was written by him. trump is especially malleable to those who can channel his narcissism and fears.
There are lots of moving parts going on under the surface that will cement an authoritarian system in place in this country. Trump is the hate spewing face that appeals to a base that foments chaos. But there are detailed plans for lasting institutional change are the ultimate goal under Trump's distractions. There are being ignored by the mainstream media.
Pillar II of the Heritage Foundation's campaign to remake government is now in play. Project 2025 is the manifesto, but Pillar II is the staffing up of the operation. You can read more below.
https://georgiafisanick.substack.com/p/at-long-fking-last
Donald Trump is sowing the seeds for a smashing repudiation next November. This is not the Dirty Thirties. Americans are not living through the worst Depression in history, nor is the world. The conditions are all wrong for a fascist takeover, and Americans, duly (and daily) provoked by warned by a burned out real estate thug, are going to rise up and deliver the final blow to this aging man-child. That is, if the courts don’t do the job first.
It is time for Democrats to be canny, not filled with paranoid dread. Time to use the stiletto and kill this nightmare set of lunatic ideas with the death of a thousand cuts. The warning messages - no need to dignify the aspiring dictator by calling them “attack ads” are being written even now and Trump will provide more fodder with even more violent rhetoric in the next months. He is in full panic mode now - a dispiriting but enlightening spectacle to watch.
If Trump had a shred of dignity or a moral compass that had somehow gone awry, this would have all the makings of a Greek tragedy. This clearly not being the case, America is simply going to take out the garbage.
My only concern is that somehow fear and panic will spread into Democratic Party and a late movement to oust Biden for his age will sweep the party and eat away at its resolve.
Stand firm on the left. Take up your “stilettos” and inflict a thousand cuts in all the usual ways - donating, volunteering, spreading the ringing message of Democracy, and of course, voting when the time comes.
And watch the outside world. The governments of several countries we all can think of would like nothing better than to prop up Trump and get him back into power. This will be for them a Sisyphean project, akin to making Saddam Hussein’s statue stand up again after it was pulled down. Nonetheless the dudes in Russia and China are playing for keeps. They too have to be called out.
Trump’s fever dream is hastening his demise. The courts can push it along. The people on the right who have integrity could find the integrity to deny Trump even the nomination. However Americans for democracy will not depend on a savior this time. They have been let down in the past. This time “we the people” will deliver the blow that consigns Trump and his deformed crowd to permanent ignominy.
America is ready for this task. It promises to be a redeeming moment in American history.
Experts were making this comparison in 2016 and were being laughed off.
trump is finished and he knows it.
Our legal system, which he, ironically.... (like all criminals with access to lawyers who’ll say and do anything to try to win their case)...is using, to try to delay bankruptcy and incarceration, is coming for him. Jack Smith, Fani Willis and many others are doing their jobs with great dedication and purpose; they understand how important their job is; they are prevailing because they have the facts right. The Neo Confederates, ready to attack our democracy will continue to be with us. Many will continue to try to hurt our democracy after trump is gone from cable news 24/7 media cycle. We’ll have other real problems but we’ll overcome them, too.
Our democracy held during the Civil War, Great Depression, WWII and others like them which were much more serious tests. Democracy is the best form of government there is. Autocrats ... would be, and actual...tremble before it for good reason.
I agree, and his mouth and written word comes directly from Bannon and Miller. He is a very dangerous puppet at this time. Trump needs to be stopped via conviction with the sentencing being banned from politics or half of America being against him. Please keep in mind that both Germany and Italy in 1939 were in complete economic crisis. That is what welcomed fascism into those desparate countries.A huge majority of citizens supported these powerful and promising tyrants. Citizens that later faced the wrath of these horrible dictators. And what group of people is Bannon/Miller going after? The Hispanics that he rallied to in Florida the week before? All Arabs countries, except the ones he does business with?
And both Hitler and Mosilini were powerful speakers, Trump is not.
Let’s get through the indictments and see what the sentencing becomes. But I assure you this, if he keeps making speeches like that, more GOPs will start to think twice about him. And a third party will be created.
Biden needs to speak on the aftermath of Hitler and Mussolini. German women walking the streets looking for food.
For Il Duce:
“As World War II wound down, Benito Mussolini scrambled, unsuccessfully, to outrun his enemies. After they captured and killed him, his body was subjected to a strange journey that lasted for more than a decade.”
Talk about pissed citizens.
Peace
That's been clear since even before he ran for president.
Yep, clear as day…
You aren’t white? Off to gulag.
You belong to the LGBTQ-community? Off to gulag.
You don’t agree with Rump? Off to gulag.
Aspiring fascist? Trump makes Mussolini seem like a Boy Scout troop leader.
But, but...he hasn't made the trains run on time!!!!
[checks notes]
Oh, wait...neither did Benito...never mind.
...she smiled with a smirk
FASCIST SPEAK TRANSLATOR
https://infogram.com/fascist-speech-translator-1h0n25ye77w9z6p
It is time for the MSM to cover Trump's speeches/language and remind everyone that he is parroting Hitler and that his intention is to follow the fascist path . He is already successful in convincing his base.
I live with and care for my 100-year-old father, a WWII veteran and glider pilot, who served proudly in the Air Force for almost 38 years. He fought in Europe, at the invasion of Sicily, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, and helped with the release of Jews from Buchenvald. He has read the English printing of Mein Kampf, and he is astounded and dismayed that people would vote for Hitler, aka Trump! He sees the reflections of what happened in Germany, happening here, and he is angry and very worried. He has nightmares, not about his time in WWII, but from watching PBS Newshour and reading the news.
I have programmed Alexa to remind us both several times each day: Take a deep breath and relax your shoulders...
Oh my goodness. I cannot fathom what it would be like to have served as your father did only to have to witness this horror in what should be a time of peace in his life. Much love to both of you.
Also, as a Jew who had great aunts and uncles and several first cousins once removed tortured and slaughtered in the war, I thank your father from the bottom of my heart.
He speaks freely now about his time in Europe, and his memory is amazing, from the warm funny personal stories, to the horrors no one should have to see, much less endure. During the January 6 riot, he gripped his armchair so hard his nails dug into the armrests, and his face turned white as we watched the unfolding spectacle, stunned. He has not recovered fully from that event, knowing that could be our future. He wants to live long enough to vote in 2024!
Elizabeth, reading his story/experience and his now witnessing the resurgence of this in OUR country must be devastating. Sounds, too, like it’s got his spirit up to defend democracy once again…his experience and stories are important for those who follow in his footsteps. My wish for him is that he will witness the American public thoroughly & clearly denouncing these anti-democratic moves. Give him a hug and thank you from me!
What a remarkable life he has lived! I hope he can survive with Alexa's help and yours to cast his vote next year. Please tell him that many of us share his concern.
Ah, I was wondering if he hopes to be able to vote in 2024. He sounds like a lovely man, the very best.
My mother passed away in 2020 at age 91. She was a teenager during WW ll and had lifelong nightmares about Nazis. She couldn’t do the Women’s March or stand on the bridge with a sign, so She wrote daily political poems and limericks and posted them on her Facebook and email list. They were witty and caustic snapshots of the Trump admin and she had quite a following. When she became ill and was reconsidering dialysis, her question was, “Will I make it to November to vote?” Sadly, no. But she was celebrating somewhere when Biden won.
❤️❤️❤️
What a great man your father is Elizabeth. I hope you have kept a record of his memories to share with the rest of us.
I have recorded video and audio of my Dad telling life stories, and I try to start recording when he shares his past with visitors and family members who ask. The local weekly newspaper has printed two stories about him, for Veterans Day editions. It's difficult to fit 100 years of living into a news article! I wish I had time to write his story, but I do cherish every day with him. He tells the best jokes! Last week, the dog was barking at something outside, and he turned to look, grinning, "Is there a Republican in the yard?!"
Thank you for your continuing picture of your Dad. What a marvelous sense of humor he has.
Thank your father for me!
Your Father is an amazing man. I sincerely hope he lives on well past 2024 and gets to cast his vote next year. My Father served in the Air Force for 8 years during the Korean War. He only lived to be 78 years old and passed away 13 years ago. He was also a lifelong Democrat and would be appalled at the political scene if he was still alive.
👍👍🙏
Please add my gratitude to your father for all the sacrifices and daily small acts he made to be able to tell his story today. You are both as important today as educators as he was a soldier, being able and eager to bridge this time line. Thank you for your letter. I am inspired to carry this message.
My dad has spoken to the local 5th grade students, by invitation of our neighbor who teaches the class. He's going back to the classroom next week to talk about the dust bowl, and to answer students' questions. He really enjoys doing this. Last year, he left them with words of wisdom, pointing to each student, saying: Remember this - YOU are important and special and there is no one else like YOU!
I hope you are recording his stories so he lives on long after his physical presence on this earth.
God grant him his wish!
Grateful he's here to share important memories, but sad he's witnessing the present situation. Thank him, please!
May he live to see a hopeful tide of democracy rising strong! My dad, also a WWII vet, lived long enough to vote for Biden/Harris, and passed away that December. It is a relief that he did not have to witness the insurrection. Much respect and love to you and your father.
Both of my parents were Holocaust victims. My mother’s parents were gassed in a van at the camp called Chelmno. I feel your pain.
Sentiment shared.
Completely agree Elizabeth. Every publication that does not call this out are complicit.
This is a shameful and cowardly time for journalism. And don’t think for a second that Trump won’t order some journalists jailed, making this dereliction of duty all the more bizarre.
Jennifer, please forgive my interruption of the thread: I read your profile, had my shaky hand push the thingy that sent me there.
Surprise! You are a remarkable human being--including your 'religion.' Shades of Celtic Christianity (did you know?)--including Muir and de Chardin in the recent 20th century. I believe either one of them would have liked you.
Interruption Ends....
Honor to your father for his service and today's awareness, and to you for caring for him.
My father and his brother, my Uncle, both served in WWII. I grew up with stories of how dangerous the Nazi threat was and how it made the German population turn on one another. Then, once it became clear the Nazi's were losing the war, the German POWs all claimed they weren't Nazi's but were just following orders, afraid for their own lives if they disobeyed. No doubt, some truth there. But they also realized just how blinded they had been by Hitler. Unfortunately, this realization came far too late for the millions who died and were murdered.
Oh how I wish the "Greatest Generation" was still here to help educate and tell their personal stories -- and call Trump out for what he really is, a dangerous power-hungry snake oil salesman.
Dave, they are here. They live through us.
They taught us to value one another, to have reverence for the history and promise of our democratic institutions, and that ensuring democracy survived was worth giving their lives for. They speak through us now in our urgency to do all we can to save America and her democracy. Thank you, Dave for reminding me of all the things I am grateful for being taught, by the "greatest generation".
Thank you for the poignant reminder. Yes, of course, you're right. And it pains me that through all their suffering, strife, loss, and sacrifice not all that many years ago that there are millions of Americans today that are either ignorant or actively want to participate in Trump's bloodlust.
All the while the ghosts of those who experienced the horror of Hitler's Reich first hand are whispering to all who care to listen, "Never again".
Now it's our turn. Does America have what it takes to look beyond religious zealots, race hate, and grievance-based politics to stop this lunacy?
Dave, I agree, it is a somber truth that some of our fellow Americans want to participate in his self-described, bloodlust plans against us. Great word choice, Dave, "bloodlust". They believe their fierce anger and desire to commit violence is their strength. It's not.
We are stronger in our passion, a great deal more rational, and greater in number. And of late, I feel the ground shifting beneath us. A change is occuring. More people are waking up to the urgency and danger. Many are forging friendships. Others are setting aside disagreements, perhaps even disdain, to ally with one another. Our coalescing around our shared mission and patriotism for America, so deeply held in our hearts, is our strength. We are bringing together a diversity of skills and talents to employ in our sacred mission.
As more of us wake up and unite, we will grow even stronger. And if we remain bound together and relentless in our pursuit, I believe, we will prevail. America's democracy will prevail. Glory.
!
You know. Dave, the worst part is that the US harbored some of those Nazis here. Simon Wiesenthal was responsible in hunting them down here and in South America.
Yeah, I know. Very difficult decisions made in the heat of the moment then are easier to armchair quarterback now. Without question, we humans are a fallible, corrupt species.
The thing is, we have the ability to learn from our past and not repeat the same mistakes. I just don't think the GOP wants to...
I don't think so Marlene, simply because anyone can make a mistake for a myriad of reasons. They can realize their mistake and attempt to apologize or even rectify the consequences of their error. We can redeem ourselves today and in the future.
Your father is a real hero.
Elizabeth, I can relate. My father is 98 and reads the NYT cover-to-cover every day. He is aghast by what he sees happening. He and my 90 year old mom watch PBS and want to be involved, to contribute to the effort to retain Democracy, but feel frustrated by their extreme age. They both voted in the New York State special election last week, and sincerely hope to vote in 2024. My siblings and I, and our children carry on in their name.
Awesome! My dad likes to read The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and I recently subscribed to Mother Jones for him. His eyesight is failing, so it takes him longer now to finish articles, but he will not quit. He also loves Sudoku and crossword puzzles.
An elderly Jewish couple I knew who were born in Paris in the early 1930s, and both managed to escape capture while their families were murdered, came into my office when Trump was first elected, visibly shaking. They said, very simply, “We’ve seen this before.” I wished then, and now, their message was plastered all over TV.
I have a friend whose mother was a French Jew, who as a young girl, spent 3 years evading the German army. One of the things which helped her survive was every spring when the lilacs would bloom. I don't recall how or when she came to the US, but every spring she and my friend would go and "harvest" lilacs from trees growing around town.
I love that, Ally!❤️
Elizabeth, deepest respect for both of you. Please thank your father for me, for his service....
Thanks Elizabeth. My family have been ANTIFA since the 16th Century. And I have been proud to count myself among them. They fought in many European theaters including Prussia, Russia, and Germany. Realize what ANTIFA stands for and you will understand why I, a "politics of the center" kind of person, proudly call myself ANTIFA.
Elizabeth, my daughter had shown me a video clip of a 100 year old veteran and he was wearing a military uniform and he was very upset about what is going on right now to the point he was in tears about the whole Fascist uprising here in the USA. I felt so bad for him because of those Domestic terrorists and TFG and their dystopian ambitions. Has a video clip of your Father been posted online or the social media thing? It's truly heartbreaking that there are so many evil and hate mongering people right here in the United States. The Fascist GQP.
Bless your father, Elizabeth! He is obviously alert and cognizant of the world’s daily news. You are lucky to have him and for him to have those memories.
My dad also fought in the Battle of the Bulge and my mom lost her brother in the war. What's happening to NYT's? With their bogus front page poll last week, which one year out, should not have been published. And their weak headliner of comparing Trump's speech to Hitler's. This should be a 'Pants On Fire' headline, not a casual 'Oh, look at what Trump said today'.
🙏
I was too young to serve in WWII, although my brother did, as a gunnery officer in the Pacific. Yet, I still can remember listening to some of Hitler's broadcasts. I couldn't understand the German then but the tone of his voice, shrill and menacing, left a deep impression on me. I remember remarking to my relatives in 2016 that Trump reminded me of Mussolini. And here it is again.
American voters need to wake up and stop thinking about their 'party' and start thinking about saving democracy. It's actually terrifying to know what these people are planning and trying to normalize.
His followers know what is happening and are fine with it.
But do they understand that Autocratic leaders don't let their people own guns. I guess they haven't thought that one through.
I saw a video today of Trump voter describing that those who received the covid vaccine are not humans anymore. Or the group of them that waited in Dallas last year for JFK to show up. They waited for months. I've been looking for Jesus at Starbucks, but no show. In America, your're free to be as dumb as a doorknob. Lucky us. Heavy sigh.
You are free to "pursue happiness" as you chose, but not free to impose unhappiness on others; and least not by irresponsible actions. I suppose we'd make Trump unhappy if, collectively, we just say "NO" to thugs, but them's the breaks.
I fear they may have thought it through; in trump's mind, they'll be enlisted in the round up of his enemies.
Monica, that's even worse!
They are getting primed by the White Supremacists and at least weekly by Evangelical “preachers.”
On the cult thinking level, they are, and that is surely dangerous. I wonder how many, if they really thought about it, might feel ashamed?
JL, I don't see that happening in my little RepubliKan milieu that I have through Facebook. Formerly good, caring people are biting into that with relish. I don't get it.
All but one of my “friends” of that mindset have faded into the ether. The one that remains is an Ecuadorian immigrant. It astounds me that he, along with many of Miami’s Cuban population don’t understand that Miller’s hate includes them.
Government of, by and for the people runs on good faith conversation. Mass media has pros and cons, but the great big con is the degree it is top down, commercially (sell-you-something) oriented and encourage passivity. Genuine self-government cannot be just a choice of prepackaged items from someone else's menu. We have got to be more curious, and willing to converse and think.
Lol. Believe me, we have quite a few conversations.
I know one very old friend of my wife's family who seemed pleasant and insightful, who sank deep into the cult, cutting herself off from old friends. Some others less so, though they still defend all the Doublethink talking points. Cult ideology really seems like a "virus" that takes over the brain. Look up if you are not familiar, the "Heaven's Gate" cult. It's like believing MTG. I suspect that a lot of kids from authoritarian, extreme punishment-oriented families are driven into PTSD from infancy, and are thus rendered vulnerable to other forms of authoritarianism. One of our state representatives put forward a bill that would legalize all beating of children, so long as they were not left permanently, physically injured, citing "Biblical" authority. Thankfully it did not pass.
I know at least one politically "Conservative" person who is very bright, scrupulously honest, and kind in his relationships, but believes a lot of the MAGA propaganda. He voted for Trump, but now rejects him.
I can't believe Jill Stein is running again.
Good grief!
She's a neighbor of mine, and her daughter in law's aunt and uncle are two of my best friends. Her whole family is against her running.
Does anyone really understand her point in doing so? Spoiler? Grandiose thoughts? Given our present electoral system, a 3rd party run is a spanner in the works, so what is the real intent? I learned my lesson by “taking the high road” and voting for Nader back in 2000 (was in a blue state, so my vote was lost in the crowd, but still…). I’ve cautioned younger voters who were considering 3rd party to really look at the impact of their vote. If we can ever abolish the Electoral College (or achieve passage of the Interstate Compact by enough states)…or maybe adopting rank choice voting…one does have to sometimes vote for the lesser of two evils. I do NOT put Biden/Harris in that statement as I believe they have surpassed expectations in a troubled time….experience, wisdom and humility count for a lot to me.
Some people want to be the center of attention.
And, Biden is the best president of my lifetime, which began during the first summer of the Eisenhower ADministration. He will be remembered as one of the greats. He makes me feel that the wind's at my back. And yes: experience, wisdom, humility.
David, I'm so glad to hear you say from longer experience what I feel myself. Biden is being the best president of my lifetime, too.
David, IMHO Eisenhower was the last decent Republican President we had…I was just a kid but remember him on the radio & old B&W TV.
Assuming one's choice is confined to the lesser of two evils is only part of a story. Making the wisest choice between to options available is the other. If you cannot reach where you want to be, is foolish to backslide, and any movement forward is a step in the right direction. That's tactical. One also wants a strategy by which to gain more ground, yet be forced to deal with the situation at hand.
If a third party were to emerge and triumph, it would require either extraordinary circumstances or the building of the party over time to make it viable, such as running in smaller races they might win. Going though the motions in a tightly contested critical race there is virtually no chance they could win will mostly result in earning a huge block of sworn enemies. It seems to me that Nader was more influential before he ran and did not concede than after and helped GWB to win; few friends in either party.
I was in the same boat as you, voting for Nader when I concluded it wouldn't affect the election. In the two-party system we now have, I will never do so again, but I might reconsider if we had ranked choice voting (although it would have to be a much better candidate). This has worked in Alaska quite well according to my brother who lives in Anchorage.
I think the primary challenge by Dean Phillips could actually help Biden, just maybe. There would be debates that otherwise wouldn't happen and Biden would get a chance to showcase the administration's accomplishments. And also ideas that get presented to the public by other candidates might then be adopted by the Biden administration.
Can you explain her connection to Putin?
I can't explain either that, or her connection to Michael Flynn, also in that photo, if there is one. Actually, I suspect Putin might have reached out to her. I have no hard knowledge about that, but it seems the most plausible. Perhaps Putin reached her through Michael Flynn, but I think they contacted her, I don't think she contacted them. I don't think she would have thought of that. But again, I have no hard knowledge. I'm just guessing. It sure is weird though.
Jill Stein is the poster child (along with Ralph Nader) for the need to employ Ranked Choice Voting. RCV should be the process in every election.
Probably with some $$ backing from Putin.
Dark money of course.
that is certainly quite possible.
David Hotzman, metro Boston, EGO
Yup.
Another narcissist. There are too many of them in politics.
Too many of them anywhere. They are family disasters, school disasters, business disasters, community disasters.
Sure - but my narc ex is not a danger to his whole country!
I just posted the letter to my Facebook page and reminded any Rs reading it that if they are not opposed to death star, then they too are fascists. We need to root these people out at every letter. As the final paragraph makes clear....they don't care.
Thinking of a political party, or any organization, as the ultimate end rather than a means to an end kind of reminds me of road rage. People in a mortal struggle to defend what is peripheral and cut of from what really matters. I'm not trying to say that party politics is unimportant, but it's important in a larger context. A livable climate is a much larger context, liberty and justice for ALL is a much larger context. Money is important, but so too is how it is acquired and for what it is spent. "Winning" can be important, but by what means? Differences of opinion are important but is that necessarily a problem? Nature thrives on diversity. What matters when we face our last days of life?
Nancy, you are absolutely right!
You are so right!
Guilty Donnie had the nerve to propose his fascist agenda on Veterans Day! Either he has no clue how many Americans fought and suffered, and even died to defeat the ideas he espouses during WWII, or else he disrespects their sacrifice and doesn't care who sees it.
EIther way, he is doubly a traitor and should be cast out of our society.
Gary,
Here’s how TFG’s campaign responded to historian Jon Meacham’s statement on MSNBC’s Morning Joe (“To call your opponent vermin, to dehumanize them, is to not only open the door, but to walk through the door toward the most ghastly kinds of crimes.")
“Those who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told the Post in a statement.
Talk about a threat to silence a critical press.
https://www.axios.com/2023/11/13/trump-vermin-fascist-language-speech
Mary, thank you for posting the link to the Axios article. It should be required reading for every American voter before they cast their vote.
Since TFFG was reading from a teleprompter for some of the speech, it made me wonder who actually wrote it…Stephen Miller or Jason Miller…or??? I hope those who previously voted for the Wreck-It-Ralph candidate now see the real life impacts and either choose to sit this one out, or even better, vote for Joe & Kamala.
"T----- derangement syndrome." That's what I heard about a million times during 2016-2020 whenever I posted against tffg on social media. It is supporters' way of completely dismissing anything anyone sane has to say.
Alexandra Sokoloff, it seems so odd for them to say, as it seems they are the ones who have.the derangement syndrome.
Projection is their superpower.
M Tree, you are spot on.
The Deranged T.... Party?
Truly horrible. They are digging in deeper and deeper with each passing moment.
Mary, thanks for that Axios article. I want to repeat your highlight of tffg's campaign spokesperson Stephen Cheung AND his lame backtracking when called on it:
"[T]hose who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told the Post in a statement.
Cheung later said he was referencing their "sad, miserable existence" instead of their "entire existence," the Post noted.
As if that’s better....
Gary, like the shingles, donald doesn't care-- About veterans, Gold Star families--even global stability....
He does like a good ‘Red Square’ type military display, however. Remember he wanted tanks and such honoring himself on D.C.Streets?
Unfortunately, 74 million voters favor Trump’s fascist plans, vermin and all. We might, if we do the legwork, outvote them, just barely, but they’ll still be doing everything they can to establish a Christo-fascist government.
Yes. We will. And yes, they won't give up. Fortunately, the majority of Gen Y and Gen Z are on the correct side of diversity, inclusion and justice. It is consoling to know that old white male bigots have an expiration date.
I know there are millions of what one might call "true Christians" - the ones who actually are interested in the teachings of Jesus. And there are thousands of pastors who teach that. Why haven't they organized in opposition to this fascistic version of their religion? Why so silent? Where are the preachers when you need them most?
And how can a "Pope" watch all this unfold without condemning it? Trying to repeat history, perhaps?
Bill, the people you are appropriately calling "true Christians" do organize to oppose fascism (both religious and political) and organize on behalf of those who need help. On FaceBook there is a group called the Clergy Emergency League that started in response to George Floyd's murder and the uprisings. In it, clergy share resources, sermon approaches, biblical interpretations, protesting options, and bolster one another in serving as "witnesses" at protests. The Clergy Emergency League is modeled on the Pastors' Emergency League that stood up to the Nazis. It was founded by Pastor Martin Niemöller who is best known for this statement:
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
You can read about Niemöller and other preachers during the Nazi era in a fascinating book called "Preaching in Hitler's Shadow: Sermons of Resistance in the Third Reich" edited by historian Dean Stroud. By the hundreds, preachers were rounded up when they refused to follow Hitler's orders, when they refused to pledge allegiance to Hitler over their allegiance to God.
Aside from the Clergy Emergency League churches, sponsor reading groups and social justice task forces that work in their communities. An ecumenical group called Christians Against Christian Nationalism holds webinars, offers articles and books, and all of their work is to teach and stand up for the teachings of Jesus.
https://www.christiansagainstchristiannationalism.org/
Admittedly, a lot of the good work "true Christians" do is invisible (helping refugees get settled, supporting volunteer medical workers in rural communities, sponsoring after-school spaces for kids who need adults around... and on and on). On Ash Wednesday which begins the season of Lent, we Christians are told to give alms (do things for others, give to others), fast, and pray... more than usually.
The Gospel reading on Ash Wednesday is from Matthew 6. About giving, Jesus says: "when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. " In other words, don't go around boasting about how terrific you are. That's why it isn't obvious that churches are doing the things we wish we could see people of good will doing.
Melinda,
This is a wonderful and helpful response. I am going to have a better day as a result :)
So how do we get this good invisible work in the headlines?
Time to make some good noise!
Yes, Bill. Advertising without preening one's feathers is a tough balance to maintain. We'll all have to work at it –– get the word out in small bits, perhaps. Thank you for the nudge that motivated me to contribute a little of that advertising. I found Heather's letter today to be so emotionally difficult that thinking about the good efforts of the opposition calmed me some. Peace.
I would like to do my own "small bit" by quoting your comment in a substack letter of my own. I went to the website. I love it. I love the "statement"!
Would you like full attribution or wish to be anonymous? I could make you "famous" with a couple hundred people. Ha Ha.
He did just remove the bishop of Tyler, TX, an ultra-conservative who symbolized the polarization within U.S. Catholic hierarchy.
Pope Francis is a good man. Now, he should fire the rest if the American bishops.
Yes. Nothing scares professional Republican politicall operatives more young voters. Republicans who know the score are scared to death of GenX,Y,andZ.
Yes, we can outvote them, but that won't change their attitudes. That is the larger challenge - how do we change people's minds so they'll stop fearing and hating their neighbors, and trying to repress and oppress them? And how do we get the media to stop treating the RWNJ faction as if there are "fine people" among them - there are emphatically NOT, if they can be good and kind to people of their same stripe, but fail to treat others the same, as if those others as somehow lesser. Why aren't the MSM and the other outlets that have the public ear screaming about this not-so-nascent fascism?
Lynn: I posted a response to your comment but don’t know where it went. At the risk of wasting even more space in the commentary, here it is again:
I don’t know the answers to your questions about the MSM, but I’m pretty sure that nobody without direct access to people making MSM decisions (which of course means none us little people consuming MSM content, nor even people like HCR or any of the MSM pundits, including MSNBC pundits, can influence those decisions. Those decisions are made by the suits in the executive suites. The suits are always the problem.
But I do know that changing people’s hearts and/or minds is a longterm project. Even professional counselors with direct access to the afflicted individuals (such as Republicans) cannot do that in the timeframe available to avoid the collapse of US democracy, which is now until the election in Nov 2024. All we can do is work to outvote Republicans in those elections. The hearts-and-minds project, if it could possibly succeed, ever, would require many more years and much more effort than any of us can manage.
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.
It will never be repaired if a start isn't made. These sad, fearful, hating people will go on fearing and hating and teaching them to their children indefinitely, forever, but we owe it to ourselves and to them, our neighbors, our fellow humans, to try.
This may be the most important work of our time, followed closely by correcting and reversing climate change.
I agree that trying to convert these sad, fearful, hating people to the side of decency is important, but at best it’s a very long term, not to mention long shot, project. It cannot have even the slightest effect on saving civilization, which is doomed by violence in fights for livable space if global warming is not curbed in the next decade, and global warming most certainly won’t be curbed in the next decade if Republicans have the presidency or majorities in either chamber of the legislature after 2024. So, we simply don’t have time to invest in hearts-and-minds projects. We need all the time and energy that the existing body of decent Americans can muster to put in place a US government that has any hope in hell of saving civilization.
By all means, plant a tree. That might help. But the hours you would need to invest to convert a single Republican to the side of decency and thereby increase the Democratic count by one and decrease the Republican count by one, for a net gain of two could, if invested wisely in GOTV, get at least 20 and probably more like 200 Democratic voters to the polls who would not otherwise have voted. Were going to need the extra 18 to 198 votes to have any chance at all of saving American democracy or curbing global warming.
He does disrespect veterans of any war and any branch of the Military. Remember he called them losers, treated John McCain with scorn, Trump said he couldn't respect a man who was captured by the enemy - all this coming from a coward who weaseled out of the draft by claiming bone spurs. I opposed the Vietnam war but never disrespected the men and women who served there.
If it doesn't make him look good, nothing interests him.
Is there something that makes Trump look good?
After I posted it, I thought I should have said "that makes him think he looks good".
Glad to see at least some headline writers are paying attention - shocked that all seemingly legit writers + established journalists are not. Their silence is frankly frightening . Couldn’t be happier that you wrote early and will have a regular bedtime 🫶🙏
Sob! We have seen this dehumanizing approach work before, even right here in the US. I saw the museum and memorial by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) (largely sponsored by Bryan Stephenson) in Montgomery, Alabama. The opening exhibit seeks to explain why so many accepted slavery to start with and how it went for so long. It started with dehumanizing. It worked.
There are Veterans and there are vermin. Bone Spur Donald, speaking of ‘suckers’ and ‘losers,’ is America’s most despicable vermin.
I recall the threw-up-in-my-mouth feeling when hearing the TFFG refer to NYC nightclubs (and the hoochie-coochie he encountered there) as his “personal Vietnam”… made my blood boil. I have friends who did not return or who were forever changed (how could you not be) from the conflict there.
Barbara I agree that Trump’s hoochie-coochie ‘personal Vietnam’ statement ranks among Bone Spur’s most despicable statements, along with his pussy galore.
No need, Keith, to speak in the language of the fat orange demagogue.
We can do better. We can quote our good Dems who run for office with positive, constructive, needed programs. We can quote from our novelists, musicians, screenwriters, music reviewers, and memoirists who speak to those human needs abroad the land.
Phil As a voluntary ‘sucker’ and almost ‘loser,’ I shall continue to hold the orange orangutan accountable for his verbal diarrhea.
Soon speaking won't matter any more, Phil. Can't you see it? They don't care how you vote, or who wins the vote in 2024. They will try to take power no matter what you/I say, vote, protest or denounce in forums. Fascists do not wait to be given power my a majority, they never have, and never will. They take it. Be ready for that in Nov. 2024.
Speaking matters, Bruce.
Our billionaires, like too many of our elites, have learned not to speak -- never to speak -- with reference to our humanities.
They are what Auden in "August, 1968" called the ogre. And the ogre, the dehumanized, as Auden ended that great, two-stanza poem, "cannot master speech."
I understand. And, speaking is our most valuable gift and defense, until, it seems history tells us, it isn't any more. It also seems like knowledge and wisdom (speaking) is useless until you put it into practice. My Dad was a Diplomat, and he said: "Bombing is the next step in diplomacy". Maybe that's where I get it from.
Bruce I was a Foreign Service Officer. After some rambunctious years in Congo, including rescuing over 3,000 foreign hostages under rebel death sentence, our ambassador in Saigon twice ‘invited’ me to join him and twice I refused. I did not believe in Vietnam that ‘Bombing is the next step in diplomacy.’
I didn't say my father saw eye to eye on this either, Keith. But he definitely influenced me, especially because of his experience fighting and culling Nazi's. It's also because of him that I never wanted to be in Public service.
You are damn right he is Keith, he’s insipid.
Always good to hear from you, Keith! 🙂
Marlene AND YOU!!!
Thank you for using the term fascists. It is an apt description. The media should be calling the party formerly known as the GOP as fascists and American Nazis (the real media, not the Gong Show of Fox News and other entertainment channels). The parallels to history of Germany in the 1930s is astonishing.
Rachel Maddow, for one, is on it, particularly with her podcasts, book, and tonight's commentary.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
Concur Ellie. All Rachel's segments were potent.
Yes, she really hit the mark last night, unabashedly!
Truth
I don’t know how many readers you have, but for G-ds sake can we start doing something concrete rather than preaching to the choir, write to every dem leader and demand they speak out everyday calling the gop out as the fascist party led by an absolute fascist racist.
Jessica Craven's Substack is an amazing daily resource that makes it easy to take actions as you choose from her menu and links:
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/
indeed, she is a tireless champion of the concept of "individual modest resistance efforts add up".👍👍
Call them all. The Republicans in my area hang up on me. I ask them if they would go to the doctors with me since they know more about Healthcare than my doctor. I need their input. Then I hear "click".
HCR regularly says to take up oxygen. Contact the media, write letters to the editor, speak with your neighbors.
BTW Heather’s Facebook reports 1.7 million of us readers!
The most effective thing we can do as individuals is to contribute all the time and money we can afford to well-organized, get-out-the-vote campaigns targeting voters in swing states and swing districts. High turnout produces Democratic victories. Low turnout delivers Democratic losses. It’s as simple as that. Preaching, on the other hand, whether to the choir or seeking to convert enemy combatants, is an inefficient political activity and a luxury we can afford very little of.
Soon voting won't matter any more, Rex. Can't you see it? They don't care how you vote, or who wins the vote in 2024. They will try to take power no matter what you/I say, vote, protest or denounce in forums. Fascists do not wait to be given power my a majority, they never have, and never will. They take it. Be ready for that in Nov. 2024. Unless, as is your and my hope that the vote for Biden/Harris is a huge landslide...and even then. The Mango Muffin has declared himself and given all his followers jobs with a little power.
I see that but can do nothing to change it. Neither can anyone else, short term. And short term is all that is left before Christo-fascism takes over.
Biden can!
Yes, if we get his voters to the polls.
Yay, you’re getting to bed early tonight! Thank you for all you do!
He’s been transparent for a while, but now he’s set forth his agenda if re-elected! I sincerely hope all Americans are listening!
Anthony, to my utter amazement some folks actually welcome his agenda/vision…that is really scary to me.
Some folks? Upwards of 74 million is some folks?
Anthony, chump's own "Mein Kampf."
Trump’s threat to root out “vermin” at first drew a New York Times headline saying, “Trump Takes Veterans Day Speech in a Very Different Direction.”
I am doctor ordered not to read newspapers anymore (yup), so I don't get to see these gems.
Shame on the New York Times. Shame on them. Double triple quadruple shame on them. I don't know what the current politics are with them, but this is a journalistic crime.
You must not ignore ethical journalism. Citizen complacancy is the final ingredient as tyrants coalesce. Distract, devide, create fear, and complacancy is their recipe for fascists to succeed to authoritarian rule. Timothy Snyder's "On Tyrany" is a must guide to adsist us in averting the fall of democracy.
I cancelled subscription
"In addition to being illegal and unconstitutional, such plans to strip the nation of millions of workers would shatter the economy, sparking sky-high prices, especially of food."
Can someone please explain why MAGAs are willing to shoot themselves in the foot?
Sophia, excuse me for being blunt here. But the GOP of the past is ‘dead’. It’s now the “GQP-Trumputin Party”. A bunch of racist, fascist, pigs! They have absolutely NO respect for the law, democracy, our Constitution, or American citizens. What they all actually are, is a bunch of bozos listening to a narcissistic sociopath who is a liar, cheat, rapist, treasonous traitor, and the lowest scum of the earth. He is only interested in listening to himself talk, having people cheer what he says, and having people do what he says. He thinks he’s “the Supreme Being”!
You've given a perfectly pitched definition of a septuagenarian toddler on steroids without guardrails. How can even ONE person follow him, let alone legions? In biblical terms, he's the closest thing to the depiction of the Antichrist....
well parried... can't argue with any of that.💯🎯
And like the followers of any cult leader, they believe he speaks the truth. As we all know, he plays fast and loose with language, and he could care less about what happens to his base. When he gets rid of all those immigrants and there are millions of jobs unfilled we will see who they blame.
Jim Jones comes to mind when you speak of cults. What Fake 45 did was give “permission” to those who lived under a rock, to come out swinging. They did and still do. He allowed anger and hate to be the new normal. We cannot allow him or any other Repub to become the leader of our country ever again!
Not to mention all the agriculture work, crop harvesting, and tending to that won’t get done. Millions of acres will go to waste, again, because of this 🍓💩🤡 acting the fool! Only this time, millions may starve because the crops will rot in the fields instead of being dumped in the oceans like they were when he did away with all this country’s trade agreements worldwide!
You ask about "someone" who might explain the poisoning of the U.S.
Jane Mayer (friend of Heather Cox Richardson) has recently done so in her book "Dark Money."
Wendell Berry did so long before the billionaire classes elicited, programmed the mass poisoning -- in his, Wendell Berry's 1977 book, "The Unsettling of America."
Diane Ravitch did so in her 2003 book, "The Language Police," on how others of the billionaire classes killed humanities in U.S. K-12, replacing them with the standardized testing which reduces humanity instead to numbers, categories, demographics, linear-thinking only.
And there's Orwell, longest ago of all, whose "Politics and the English Language" in 1948 explained how all "shoot themselves in the foot" who never learn the decencies of humanities, but sink instead to the grouping, packaging, abstracting, and hating which our billionaire classes promote (see Jane Mayer, and the others, above).
Thank you for this compelling compendium; duly noted. 👍👍👌
Thank you for the reading list. You've laid out a good premise for a debate: Is "someone" poisoning the U.S., or is the U.S. allowing itself to be poisoned?
Sophia, the same two reasons as always: they're scared of the chump and his crazy violent followers; or, they agree with his agenda and their paycheck.
Or both...
Losers gonna lose
Sophia, because even more bluntly than Daniel, maybe. Don Mango Muffin is promising them power! They will get all the jobs he is promising for loyal followers.
Herd mentality has taken them over. No voice of reason can get through.
It is a cult.
Why isn't Bannon in jail? It's only for 6 months, and it wouldn't shut him up completely, but it would complicate his spreading of bile a little.
Pardoned
Only for some of the charges (the biggies); the charge of ignoring a subpoena is still ongoing…with a very short sentence of 4 months—the case is still undecided: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4302684-bannon-appeals-contempt-conviction/
The contempt conviction came after the pardon and after the failed insurrectionist was out of office.
Yup, been following it & his delay delay delay tactics….hmmm, wonder WHO he learned that from! He keeps stating that he will not go to jail….dunno about that, but I’d like him to, even just to wipe that cocky smirk off his face!
4 months inside would do him a world of good.
I wish every veteran living and deceased could hear Trump’s speech and in one loud voice say that we didn’t fight for a country that wanted to be like the Nazi’s!
And wishing the energy of their spirits will follow, pester and haunt TFFG & his minions.
It’s absolutely mind boggling that everything this cretin says others are doing is exactly what he’s doing...and millions believe it.
What does it mean when someone says “I know you are but what am I?”
(rhetorical question, colloquial, childish) Assertion that an insult made by the party to whom the phrase is directed is actually true of that party, and not of the person using the phrase. Usually considered to be a playground taunt.
Yes, roughly 60% of the white electorate and just about nobody else.