fascism

Sociology Corner


POST 1118

Apply this logic to our democracy.

Think of this as both a geeky query into some weird behavior, as well as the very reason for voting and working to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. You know: like that loyalty oath to which every federal official swears.

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They Think That Violence Is a Sign of Strength
1. Domination

Some people hang on the words of Tucker Carlson. That in itself is worthy of a sociological study, because he is both cruel and delusional – or a liar.

He recently spoke of angry daddy (Trump) coming home to deliver discipline to a “bad little girl” via a “vigorous spanking.” So much there to unpack.

Why is Daddy angry and why is he the accumulator of rage and the dispenser of violence? What does that say about silent, powerless Mommy? And what is the message to that little girl about how she should regard men and the constraints on her entire life?

Why is she a “bad little girl?” I’m guessing that In Carlson’s view, that’s any strong woman who speaks up. Whatever she’s done has morphed her, changing her from an ordinary kid who may have misbehaved to the point where now she herself is something bad; an object of rejection; a reprehensible thing to be beaten into submission; something to be made acceptable to “Daddy.”

And it’s a little girl, not a little boy. Why is that? Could Tucker and his patriarchy loving followers perhaps have mommy issues?

Maybe they distrust and hate girls and women, seeing them only as play toys and as servants. Are they so insecure in their masculinity that the only way for them to feel powerful is to dominate females, perhaps with violent assaults?

Note that it isn’t just a punishment that Tucker names. It isn’t just a spanking. It is a “vigorous spanking.” Does Tucker get off on spanking women? Does his pleasure ramp up as the beating becomes more “vigorous?”

Dominance.

Hey Tucker: dominance and violence driven by your neuroses and self-loathing aren’t signs of strength. They’re sure signs of your weakness and fear.

2. Promises of Attacks and Cruelty

Trump is full of sick, unconstitutional threats, like: A. siccing our military on peaceful demonstrators and hoping to shoot them in the legs; B. promising to prosecute his political opponents, most notably Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi, then all Democrats, and; C. promising to herd undocumented people into concentration camps and deport them. Then he’d round up legal non-citizens, then naturalized citizens.  To be fair, he’ll only do this to Hispanics and anyone with dark skin who might have ancestry in a “shithole country.” He never promises to deport Europeans.

It’s fascinating to see Trump as he rails in full insecure panic mode. It is solely to assuage Trump’s bruised, pitiable ego.

Go all sociological on that.

3. Verbal Violence

From the Borowitz Report:

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2023 .  .  .  [Don, Jr.] roasted Sen. John Fetterman, who was recovering from a series of health problems. “Pennsylvania managed to elect a vegetable .  .  . ”

Trump publicly ridiculed a disabled reporter. At these and all of his public events, the residents of Trump World rejoice in his cruelty. What’s that collective cruelty about?

Trump spent $80,000 for the entire back page of the New York Times demanding that the Central Park 5 be executed, this after DNA evidence had conclusively shown them to be innocent. HE WANTED TO KILL FIVE INNOCENT MEN!

His insanity is constant and goes back decades. So, roll up your sociological shirtsleeves and dig into that.

4. Physical Violence

There are the Proud Boys, the 3 Percenters, the Rambo pretender non-militias and the lone wolves. We know about the plot to kidnap and kill the Governor of Michigan. We know about the radicals’ monument to anti-Americanism, the January 6 insurrection. We know about all its felonious participants. We have perpetrators of that lawlessness still proudly proclaiming that they are the true patriotic ones (see the pic below) and Trump telling us it was a peaceful love fest. I’m guessing that slain Officer Brian Sicknick’s parents see that event differently.

And these violent ones are promising far worse this coming January 6.

The point is that we have a great many who demonstrate their passion and their power through their cruelty, violence and domination of others. They think their violence is a sign of strength. I say it’s a sign that they are weak and just don’t have what it takes to face challenges without threatening others with a gun.

Let’s call them what they are: psychopaths, just like Hitler’s Gestapo and SS.

5. Attitude

Consider this “poop monument” on the National Mall. Yes, it’s a real shrine. No, it isn’t real poop.

Click me for the crappy story.

This is from the plaque on the pedestal below the desk:

“This memorial honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 to loot, urinate and defecate throughout those hallowed halls in order to overturn an election. President Trump celebrates these heroes of January 6th as ‘unbelievable patriots’ and ‘warriors.’ This monument stands as a testament to their daring sacrifice and lasting legacy.”

Go ahead: sociologize that pile of crap.

While you’re at it, give a head scratch to MAGA high level elected officials encouraging and celebrating lawlessness, vandalism and treason. Sociologize me that, too.

And Lest We Forget .  .  .

.  .  .  how menacingly bad Trump is, how dangerous he is for you and for our country, watch Robert Reich’s list of the 10 Worst Things About the Trump Presidency. Then imagine how destructive another Trump Presidency/Fuhrer-ship would be. The sociological question for all of this is:

Why would anyone want this?
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Then imagine the cataclysm of JD Vance in the White House, which will happen if Trump wins the election.

Same question: Why would anyone want this?

Partial answers:

  1. Because some insanely rich people would benefit greatly from it.
  2. Because millions feel disrespected and abandoned by leaders and their flashing middle fingers at those leaders feels good to them.
Obeying In Advance – a Political Tragedy*

Many thanks to JN for passing along this pic. Click for a larger view.

Underneath its name in the Washington Post’s masthead stands its declaration “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The implication is that this stalwart of democracy newspaper shines light where light is needed and stands firm for democracy.

That brave notion was speared in the heart when the Post refused to endorse for president, as they have in every election since 1976. They effectively are standing aside to let dark authoritarian Trump and the fascists take over and smash the First Amendment and our democracy. The light dims and darkness grows, as Jeff Bezos chickens out and obeys Fuhrer Trump even before being ordered to do so.

Here’s Ann Telneas’ editorial cartoon responding to the Post’s cowardice. Its title is “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”

Great kudos to Telneas for speaking truth to power.

Not to be outdone, the Los Angeles Times chickened out in the same way. So have a bunch of large company CEOs. Cowards all, obeying in advance.

On The Media

From Mother Jones, November 1:

Even this morning, alongside coverage of Trump’s violent remarks [about putting Liz Cheney before a firing squad], the New York Times ran an opinion piece headlined “Can we please mute the president for a few more days [responding to his “garbage” gaffe]?”

Trump’s menacing language—a constant for almost a decade—rarely draws the notice that Garbage-gate has received. To call this imbalance typical both-sidesism fails to adequately convey the failures of the media in 2024.

Quote For the Vote
  • . . .  . .“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
  • – Abolitionist Wendell Philips. Often attributed to Thomas Jefferson,
  • who certainly believed that, as did others of his era.
Must Watch

John McCain’s gracious and patriotic concession speech of 2008. Would that we could look forward to something similar this week.

Lend a Hand

HERE

Click me – and read Note #5 below

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* Read On Tyranny by Prof. Timothy Snyder for a full understanding of the consequences of obeying in advance.

There’s also a graphic version available.

Many thanks to MG for this quotation from Scotty Reston.

It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: IT’S THE VOTES!
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:
.

NOTE: Many states allow same day voter registration and voting!

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registerilled-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


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    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Five


POST 1116

Did you already vote? Great! And you’re not done protecting our rights, our freedoms and our democracy.

You know quite well that MAGA and the acquiescent, cowardly Republicans stand for hatred, cruelty, violence and un-American values and norms. They cannot make themselves bigger so they use every hateful method to make everyone else smaller and poorer in every way. Here’s the most recent evidence of their crimes against America and Americans.

The Trump Nazi Bund rally at Madison Square Garden last Sunday was a goose stepping jamboree, a festival of hatred and cruelty. From Heather Cox Richardson:

The hateful performances of the early participants set the tone for the rally. Early on, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by Kill Tony, delivered a steamingly racist set. He said, for example: “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” He went on: “And these Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country.” Hinchcliffe also talked about Black people carving watermelons instead of pumpkins.*

You may recall that Trump made himself the anti-hero for the people of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria by throwing rolls of paper towels to people devastated by that storm. You may also recall that Puerto Rico is one of the Trump-named “shithole countries.” Actually, Puerto Ricans are Americans, but people like Trump, Vance and that swamp creature comedian don’t like to acknowledge that.

That kind of thing is why you voted against the MAGA creeps.

As my friend, futurist David Houle recalled, in the 60s the establishment types hated protesters, anti-war types – anything that wasn’t locked down establishment. They wore their certainty of their being the true Americans on their sleeves and also wore it on their pick up trucks and cars with signs reading, “America: Love it or Leave it.”

Writes Houle,

The “conservative candidate,”  Donald Trump, has been trashing America.  He most recently called America a “garbage can of a country.”  I don’t think that any presidential candidate in U.S. history has ever spoken so negatively about this wonderful democracy.

What?!  If you, Mr. Trump, do not love America or want America to once again become a “shining city on a hill;”

If [you] Donald Trump [don’t] like America, [you] can leave it! Love it or leave it, Donald.

Remember that Trump has been painting America in dystopian terms since 2017.

It’s time we recognized that Trump does not love America and he doesn’t care a bit about the disaster he will leave behind him. He wants to change nearly everything about America and all for the worse for our rights, our freedom and our democracy. So, per my friend David’s observation, it’s time for Trump to leave.

AND NONE OF THAT IS THE POINT!!

.

As I explained in this post, the point is that Trump is just the marionette, the puppet designed to distract us from what the Heritage Foundation fascists are doing. What they really want is to put Vance in the White House so he can be their tool boy to destroy our democracy. Their plan is to get Trump into the White House and then invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him and put Vance at the Resolute Desk to enact all of the democracy destroying carnage of Project 2025!

Trump is doing everything he can to keep his loyal followers juiced up, mindlessly angry, full of certainty and hatred. He’s doing nothing to attract additional supporters. That’s a perfect recipe for losing the election so he can attack his popular and Electoral College losses by inciting violence.

I don’t have a magic formula, a witch’s cauldron of potion to cure the extremists. What I’m sure of is that Trump must not be allowed anywhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and that starts with his overwhelming loss at the polls. The good guy legal eagles will have to figure out how to stop his valueless lawsuits. Our law enforcement people will have to figure out how to deal with the violence and the phony electors. All of that is above my pay grade. But crushing MAGA in this election is right on our level.

So, you voted. Did you think Trump and MAGA extremists would go away because you voted in this free and fair election? Nope.

This win for our rights, our freedom and our democracy needs to be an overwhelming victory for Harris-Walz and a crushing defeat for Heritage Foundation fascism. That’s why you aren’t done taking action.

Look at the countdown clock below. Five days is all we have to create the tidal wave victory for the America we believe in.

Just five days to stiff arm fascism.

Five days to protect the future for our children and grandchildren.

Just five days to block politicians from OB/GYN exam rooms.

Just five days to ensure we have leaders who will take steps to stem the hemorrhaging from our gun violence.

Just five days to restore decency to our government and our nation.

We have just five days to banish the haters from our politics.

We have just five days to encourage people to vote, using our door knocking, postcards, phone calls and more.
.

“Hard work is good work.” There are lots of options for you,

Many of which are listed here

There are Post Cards to Swing States – Holland & Muskegon MI

You can knock on Doors in Wisconsin

Rockin’ Zoom Phone Bank – Indivisible Illinois

Or this

Or this

And of course there is this potpourri of opportunities to make a difference.

This stuff is easy to find and easy to do, so find something. The key: TAKE ACTION TODAY!

Tell people to vote like their life depends on it.

Because it does.

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* In case you are a Trump apologist or Trump explainer/whisperer, consider this.

Eleven years ago a US Navy submarine surfaced right into a Japanese fishing boat. The fishing boat sank and nine people were killed. The submarine captain with an otherwise fine record, was officially disciplined and had to resign from the Navy. Here’s why.

The leader is responsible for everything – that’s everything – that happens on his/her boat, whether it’s during the captain’s watch or not. It’s the captain’s job to make certain that all involved are properly trained, that they know their jobs and that they execute them properly. No excuses.

And so it is in the Trump campaign. Trump is responsible for the hiring, training and execution of his election team. Someone on his election campaign invited that crude “comedian” to speak, so Trump is responsible for his crude, cruel words. Trump can dance all he wants, but Trump is responsible for that hurtful meanness. He can try to distance himself from that, he can apologize – no matter. He’s accountable.

It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: it’s the votes. 
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registerilled-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

A-Changin’


POST 1115

On the Sunday before last the New York Times published letters from readers that were composed in lyrical form rather than in prose. One was to the tune of the 60s Bob Dylan song, The Times They Are A-Changin’. Here’s it’s opening:

Come liars, deniers who call it a hoax

And convince us these fires are nothin’ but jokes

When the air that you’re breathing’s like three packs of smokes

Even Fox might admit they were fakin’

Better get a good gas mask if ya don’t wanna choke

‘Cause the climate is a-changin’

Having been there in the 60s and been a finalist in Lyndon Johnson’s contest to win an all expense paid trip to Vietnam, I was sensitive to Dylan’s words in his song. That tide of change led to the 1968 anti-war demonstrations in Grant Park that turned into a battle that the Kerner Commission labeled a “police riot.” I remember Hizzoner the Mayor, Richard J. Daley, defending the police, saying, “The police are not here to create disorder. They are here to preserve disorder.” He certainly was a man of insightful and inspiring words.

What comes to me now is that the 60s demand for change was about our attempts to move away from repressive government hiding behind the label “conservative.” It seemed designed solely to prevent any change that might affect the power of those in charge, regardless of the desires of We The People. Meanwhile, people were getting killed.

Good thing there is no global warming leading to this flooding in New Mexico. Oh wait – there is.

Here we are today with new power grabbers stripping power from us using their chicanery, demanding that their minority be in charge of the rest of us. They’re fighting any change with their unlawful, unconstitutional schemes to diminish our power.

They’re denying climate warming, for example, even as people throughout our southeast are suffering, some dying, from yet another “storm of the century” and there are lakes, oddly enough, flooding parts of the Sahara Desert and New Mexico. Hence, the creative use of Dylan’s form and the updated meaning above.

These pretenders are trying to claw their way into absolute power using lies, propaganda and promises – threats, really – of unconstitutional cruelty. They are fighting change for the better solely to snatch away yet more power for themselves at the expense of We The People. Meanwhile, people are getting killed. It’s an eerily familiar story.

The times are a-changing because we have made a lethal mess and change is an existential imperative. Ask your children and grandchildren how they’re feeling about their future, about the dire threat of global warming and the threats coming from citizen mob incitement and violent people with guns. Ask them how they’re feeling about people, especially politicians, who deny reality.

Today’s young are the ones who have had to do active shooter drills in schools. They’re the ones dealing with our insurmountable housing reality and the crazy cost to marry and have children, about all the impossible challenges that have put them in despair. Essentially, they are asking,

“What American dream?”
.

So, they and we want the times to be a-changin’. We don’t want the chaos, the instability and the threats of being dominated by people who want to “terminate” our Constitution. We don’t want our rights to be stolen from us and we don’t want liars to treat us like we’re stupid.

In short, the battle is the same now as it was in the 60s, as we fight the lies and repression that could get us killed. It turns out, much to the surprise of some, that people don’t like their rights and freedom trampled. People don’t like the frauds and the cruelties, like ripping babies from the arms of their mothers; like lying to victims of hurricanes so that they don’t get the aid they need and deserve; like letting pregnant women die from lack of ordinary care that would save their lives; and like encouraging Americans to attack other Americans. People don’t like their hopes and dreams to be crushed by those who care only to amass yet more power.

Change is coming because We The People won’t long tolerate repression. The cruel ones will continue to be cruel because that’s all they have. The minority will continue to manipulate the system solely for their own benefit for as long as they can. But we will reject them because they represent an America that only the haters want. We’ll banish them to the obscurity they deserve.

Our job, to paraphrase Ghandi, is to “Be the change we want to see in America.”

Not with a riot in Grant Park, but with a riot of votes before and on November 5. Then the times, they truly will be a-changin’.

Come hopers and voters who know that they stand

For something much greater than that hateful man.

When hatred and lies are all that they sell

We see what they’re doing and we’re here to tell

They better get packing or they’ll sink down to hell

‘Cus their time it is now ending.

Name Calling Accuracy

O’ those rascally generals, those former Trump Cabinet heads and Republican spine finders! They are calling Trump and Vance dangerous fascists. O’ the degrading truth of it all!

You need to go to school on this and Professor Timothy Snyder has advanced to the podium. Watch his short instructional videos in order.

 

 

.
.
Lest We Forget the Odious Felons

These are some of the crooks who want to end our democracy and rule over you with a cruel fist. Don’t let them!

Pass this along to any who are undecided or apathetic. As awful as these felons are, they’re pussycats compared to the fascist, evil, goose stepping morons whom Trump will put in power over us if he wins.
.

Tell people to

vote like their life depends on it.

Because it does!

Best Required Reading

From Steve Schmidt, October 24, “America has had many long nights in its history.” You need to know this story – read his post. Meanwhile,

There is no heaven on earth, but there is America.

It is time to believe and imagine again in America. Isn’t it? America was invented by believers, not cynics. The presence of cynics amongst the believers doesn’t diminish the believers. It simply tests the character of the undecided. There are great choices ahead. There always are. While we wait, perhaps it is worth taking stock and remembering, if but for a moment, how it feels to be a member of the luckiest group of people on earth. Americans. This is a place where anything still remains possible. Two hundred years ago at a moment of division a friend [Lafayette] visited and reminded a young nation of its unlimited future. America is a young nation with old politicians. That problem can be fixed. It should be. It’s time to start building tomorrow again in this country.

Reality Reset Quote of the Week

From Sheila Markin:

Immigrants are not the danger that Trump claims they are. Democrats are not the danger Trump says they are. Climate change is a real threat. The pandemic was a real threat. Because Trump is disconnected from reality, Trump himself is the threat from within.

Insanity Corner

In what is already one of the most expensive Senate races in American history, the Ted Cruze “Citizens United funded Super PACs” are “.  .  .  blanketing the airwaves with $34 MILLION in attack ads against Colin [Allred] (from a 10-27-24 Allred fund raiser email).

This is just some of the insanity unleashed by the John Roberts Supreme Court extremists, who contorted themselves and the Constitution to give super wealthy individuals and corporations super influence over our elections. Plus they gave inanimate, non-human, non-sentient corporations all the rights that you have.

Insane.

Best Action Today

Read this.

It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: it’s the votes. 
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registerilled-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Here’s The Thing


POST 1098

Tyranny and Freedom

We are continually faced with self-serving declarations from over-lord wannabees about some thug patriotism and manipulative, fantabulous claims of victimhood designed to move us to support their un-freedom hell. (Insert here your personal nightmare image here.) Saying this less delicately, there’s a lot of crap being spewed by people hoping to enrich themselves in various ways, none of which are good for you. What’s a thinking American to do?

I gave advice on that very thing as recently as March 20 of this year, writing,

See Note #5 below

Prof. Timothy Snyder teaches history at Yale and is the author of On Tyranny and other books. If you have not read this brilliant, pamphlet-sized book (rather like The American Crisis by Thomas Paine), do so immediately.

As far back as February 7, 2021, less than a month after the Trump storm troopers killed cops and vandalized the Capitol Building in search of politicians to murder, I wrote about this in a slightly different way:

This is how democracies die. A cult leader exhorts fanatics, the thugs terrorize all opposition and incrementally people surrender to death threats and violence. And that’s advanced when 199 of our legislators give a standing ovation to the conspiracy nut case spewing fascist hatred. Yes, fascism can happen here in America.

I’ve exhorted readers to see what Vice President Wallace had to say about fascism in America. If you believe in democracy and have not yet read his essay, please read it now.

These violent, angry thugs won’t simply melt away if Trump disappears or if this current insurrection fails – and no, it isn’t over yet. You can expect acts of terrorism, including mass shootings and bombings and perhaps political assassinations over the coming years, as highly armed, angry, hateful, bigoted, self-righteous thugs continue their war against America.

See Note #5 below

We face an existential crisis – as in: threatening our existence. Stopping the political and street thugs isn’t a sprint. This is a marathon which will wax and wane but will never be ended because there will always be people who want to dominate others, who want to steal from others.

Which is why it’s time to return to Timothy Snyder. His new book is On Freedom. It will be released on September 17, so obviously I have not read it yet. Nevertheless, I’m recommending it to you because I believe in, I support and I demand freedom for all of us. Professor Snyder is a fine teacher and I have complete confidence he has valuable marching orders for all of us who believe in freedom. That belief started with the Founders. Lack of freedom, after all, was the trigger that started this whole thing.

Here’s a link to a transcript of Bill Maher’s interview of Professor Snyder on March 2, 2017, shortly after Trump took office. And here’s a link to talks Professor Snyder is doing on his upcoming book tour. He’s a most informative presenter, notably easy to listen to and learn from. Go and listen.

For clarity about the threats we face and will continue to face, find out How It Works.

“It’s time to end the MAGA era. It reaches peak stupid every five minutes .  .  .”

– Steve Schmidt

Are you registered to vote? Check it out here:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore, even if that makes them a few bucks more expensive. That will help to keep them your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

“Mind Your Own Damn Business”


POST 1092

The Democratic VP Rollout

The best secret pick in politics kept the focus off Trump and Vance for a week or two and kept us energized and filled with hope. Then we found out Harris’ VP pick was Tim Walz and much of the country sang out a heartfelt chorus of, “Who?”

If you watched the rollout of this campaign duo, introduced by Gov. Josh Shapiro, you now know who. After VP Harris took to the podium to introduce him, Walz gave the fiery speech of an impassioned Midwesterner, a former teacher, high school football coach, Command Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, congressman and governor. If you watched, you felt the heat, you saw the light and you became fired up with hope. That is what has been sorely lacking. Having hope once again feels so good.

Gov. Tim Walz told us the Golden Rule in small towns like where he was raised. It’s “Mind your own damn business.” The crowd cheered him as he connected that to:

Republicans sticking their noses into your doctor’s office as you are in a hospital gown being examined.

Republicans, mind your own damn business.

When extremist parents and extremist elected officials tell you what books your children may not read.

Republicans, mind your own damn business.

BTW: Here’s the newest – a statewide book ban in Utah. I guess the geniuses in Salt Lake City think they know better than all the moms and dads in the state. I think they should mind their own damn business.

When extremist politicians tell you that you may not bring water to people keeping the faith on a hot day, standing in long lines so they can vote

Republicans, mind your own damn business.

Republicans came up with the term “nanny state” years ago and have long used it to rail with phony indignation and self-certain puffery over programs designed to help people. They thought we should take responsibility for ourselves and that the government should butt out of our lives. Instead, now they intrude into our lives with the idiocies listed above and more. It’s crazy, I know, weird, even, but it’s possible that they might be hypocritical. I think they should

Mind their own damn business and get the hell out of ours!

You do, too.

Quotes From The Night Of The VP Rollout

From David Hogg, survivor of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, FL) mass shooting and co-founder of Never Again and Leaders We Deserve:

Young people are fired up like I’ve never seen to vote in this election, and Governor Walz is turbocharging that.

More from Hogg .  .  .

It’s such a breath of fresh air to feel hope.

Yes, he feels it and millions more of us do, too, including our X-ers, Ys, Millennials and Gen-Zs. That’s very good, because we look to them for the courage to see and make the repairs this nation needs. The starting point is to banish the fascists.

Hey, “Banish the Fascists” – pretty good election slogan. Not as good as “Mind your own damn business,” but still pretty good.

Fighting Back Against the Fascists

Kirk Bangstad is an activist and the owner of Minoqua Brewing Company in Northern Wisconsin. He is fighting an ongoing battle against far right wingnuts who are trying to put him out of business, this solely because of his activism. Like Trump and MAGAs everywhere, they are using our system of democracy to destroy freedom and democracy itself.

Bangstad is a prolific chronicler of it all and recently offered an interesting perspective. Here it is, slightly edited for brevity.

I’ve tried a couple of Kirk’s brews and they’re terrific. A portion of the proceeds of beer sales goes to fighting those who would destroy our democracy. You know: the fascists. So, if you’d like to help Kirk fight the good fight, then get into some good trouble, as John Lewis advised. You can raise your fist against fascism and raise your beer stein in a fine toast at the same time. Click here.

To the right is one of Kirk’s activist efforts, this one in Milwaukee. He spends the money from beer sales wisely.

Document of the Week

You know about Project 2025, Trump’s users guide to demolish democracy and institute fascism in America with him as dictator. Because it’s 922 pages are too long there have been quite a few offerings to simplify its horrors – here’s one.

Now we have this document. The affected population counts and a few other things in it are particular to Florida, but if you are in one of those states controlled by MAGA psychopathic legislators, the principles apply to you, too.

Florida is a special case of citizen abuse by authoritarian wannabees. Indeed, clarity about this was ignited by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ extremist mania, including some of the “Mind your own damn business” abuses listed above. That prompted me last year to declare that Florida is the canary in the democracy mine. It’s only a half step ahead of our entire nation if the fascists get their hands on the controls.

Read the 2-page document. You won’t like what it says. Then ponder what to do about it.

If you’re in Florida, contact Floridians For Democracy and you’ll find a bunch of clear-headed folks like you. They know what to do about what those dreadful documents threaten. FFD is a fine place to get into good trouble.

Smack Down

For an explanation of Tim Walz’ military retirement and a smack down of JD Vance and his reprehensible attack on Walz’ service, take a listen to what Lt. Col. (Ret.) Adam Kinzinger has to say. Vance’s dishonor makes the possibility of his having influence on policy or exercising national power absolutely unthinkable.

Are you registered to vote? Check it out here:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA

 


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

2024 Isn’t Just Another Year


POST 1084

Breaking News

At a rally last night in rural Pennsylvania former President Trump was shot, with the bullet grazing the top of his right ear. One attendee was killed and two others were injured by the gunman.

As he was being moved to a vehicle by Secret Service agents, Trump was seen pumping his fist in the air, apparently repeating the word, “Fight!” Two rally attendees were seen facing a TV camera and pumping their middle fingers sideways, yelling, “F*** you!” It was unclear who their target f**kee was, but their rage appeared to be aimed at the press.

It remains to be seen whether Trump will have an epiphany, if he will see the light, then use this moment to denounce violence, calling on his followers to put away their guns and end all threats of violence. The nation waits with low expectations.

Introduction

Today is Bastille Day, 14 juillet, la Fête nationale française. It is the anniversary of the day in 1789 when the French people declared they would tolerate no more of the brutality of despot King Louis XVI. They stormed the Bastille, a prison and place of torture, and freed prisoners. 94 men were killed in 4 hours.

It is almost King Louis’ kind of oppressive despotism that Trump seeks to establish. Some of that is exposed in this post. If we allow that to happen, the day will come when We The People rise up and say, “No more!” because people refuse to be abused or be slaves. On that day people will die.

We can prevent that sad and cruel story from happening. Read on.

The Draconian, Cruel World

From The New Republic:

[Project 2025] is a remarkably detailed guide to turning the United States into a fascist’s paradise.

Did reading that sentence send shivers up your spine? It should. These Project 2025 fascists use words like “patriotism” and “conservative” but there is nothing – nothing – patriotic about their unconstitutional declarations and cruelty and nothing that you care about that they would conserve. They would eliminate our Bill of Rights and its protections and freedoms. They would make this a Christian nationalist country, exactly what the Founders rejected. That means every non-Christian American will be a second class citizen at best, and likely worse.

They would eliminate women’s healthcare rights and would prosecute women seeking such medical help. They would imprison doctors who perform these procedures and all who help women in such need. They would fire all the people who work to keep us safe (food, drugs, transportation, etc.) and replace them with know nothing Trump loyalists. They would restrict voting rights to only those who will vote for fascists and they will deploy our military against us in violation of the Constitution. They will order live ammunition attacks by our National Guard against peaceful protesters.

And Donald Trump has promised all this and more.

If we fail to protect and defend our Constitution and our democracy we will be presented the American Carnage that Trump has talked about since January 20, 2017.

Click the pic for a more readable version. Thanks go to FL for the pointer to this.

Here is a chart (click it for a larger, more readable version) listing just some of the rights and freedom killers and personal safety assaults guaranteed by the Project 2025 authoritarian takeover traitors, the ones who formalized Trump’s promises. The conspirators who wrote this manifesto call it the Presidential Transition Project. They don’t name what they intend the presidency to be transitioned to, but it’s clear what they mean. The answer is (choose whatever sounds worst to you): Dictator; Commissar; Fuhrer; Big Brother; Dear Leader; Despot, Supreme Leader. Il Duce.

THIS NIGHTMARE STUFF IS EXACTLY WHAT TRUMP HAS PROMISED AND WHAT HE WILL DELIVER UNLESS WE STOP HIM.

Click me for The Union’s take on this. You can also find a disclosure of the ghastly provisions of this manifesto here.

The point is that while Trump is fumble mouthing around the cruelties in this manifesto in order to avoid losing votes, he stands for and has pledged this democracy ending agenda. Please read the list, or as much of it as you can stomach. These are enormously unpopular actions among We The People, but the authoritarian takeover traitors are promising these and more because they want to be dictators.

OVER YOU!

That’s right: This is personal.

Watch this short video from Rachel Maddow for clarity about the danger we face. And read Steve Schmidt’s A Gathering of Fascists about the upcoming Republican Bund conference.

More Horror

At every rally Trump promises revenge and retribution (“I am your retribution.”) and promises to imprison and/or assassinate his political opponents. The threat of violence is at the core of Trump and MAGA.

From Thom Hartmann, July 11, 2024, Trump’s “Secretary of Retribution” Has Been Appointed: Who is On His List?

Trump’s self-described “Secretary of Retribution,” Ivan Raiklin, already reportedly has a hit list of 350 “deep state” individuals he says they intend to try to assassinate by tricking police into attacking their homes with SWAT teams. [emphasis original]

“Look at my entire Deep State target list,” Raiklin said. “That is the beginning. This is the scratching of the surface of who is going to be criminalized for their treason, okay?”

Setting aside Raiklin’s obvious daddy issues and his poor social skills, he’s right: This is just the beginning.

Trump is promising that if he is re-elected he will round up and incarcerate undocumented people in our country, as well as American citizens. He will dump 11 million people into detention camps. Then he’s going to deport them, somewhere, anywhere, all without due process of law.

He’ll have a discrimination engine then, greased up and running at high speed. Who do you think will be rounded up next when he runs out of  Hispanics and Africans from “s***hole” countries?

Our MAGA domestic terrorists, the criminals Trump will pardon and make his Brownshirts (just as Hitler took criminals out of prison for that same terrorist purpose), won’t just be bashing down someone else’s front door.

THEY’RE COMING FOR YOU!

Click me

The folks at The Lincoln Project have spelled out Trump’s fascism for you. Just click the pic to the right and watch the video. I promise it will interrupt your sleep because you’ll know that it’s true and accurate. And it’s terrifying.

2024 is the moment when we must permanently reject fascism, like the French rejected a cruel despot in 1789. We’ll do that at the ballot box, because if we don’t, 2024 will be America’s last free and fair election.

The Democratic Candidate

Before considering this, I repeat the national imperative:

Protect and defend our Constitution and our democracy.
.

President Biden has been clear about staying in the race and perhaps he will. The only – and I mean the only – question is whether Biden can inspire voters to ignore his manifestations of age and elect both him and a Democratic Congress to stop the fascists. At the moment it’s looking very much instead like Biden is doing a Ruth Bader Ginsburg, staying too long.

Keeping our democracy demands November wins and I have no confidence Biden can deliver them. I called for him to remove himself from the race following the debate and sadly, have not found sufficient reason to change my opinion.

From Sheila Markin:

“When you are fighting for the survival of our democracy against Darth Vader and the storm troopers, it isn’t going to work to send granddad out with a rake to do the job.”

The point – the only point – is to

Protect and defend the Constitution and our democracy.
.

We must defeat the convicted criminal and his anti-Americans seeking to destroy our country, the ones who promise the “termination” of our Constitution. Stopping that requires an energized, inspiring, capable candidate, not grandad with his rake. It’s time for the torch to be passed to a new generation.

Because 2024 isn’t just another year.

This is where we make our stand.
.
Here’s Where This Gets Weird

President Biden held a rally in Detroit Friday evening. He was great! Alert, alive, inspiring, interactive, sharp. Can’t help but wonder  .  .  .  with event after event like this one, can that terrible debate bell can be un-rung? If he won’t quit the race, that is what we must hope for.

What we all must do is to stop imagining this election is between Biden and Trump. In reality, it is an election, a national choice, between democracy and cruel despotism.

We must vote at every level for whoever opposes the fascists, whether it’s a really strong Democrat candidate or a bucket of nails. Vote for democracy!

Last

Protecting what we hold dear and sacred will take all of us, so please pass this post along to others. They need to know.

Democracy is a participation sport, so get in the game! As Thom Hartmann says,

“Tag, you’re IT!“

“Friends do not let friends vote for con artists.”
  • – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016

Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:

  • Fire the bastards!


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Liars and Cheaters and Frauds, Oh My! and a Ghastly Contrast


POST 1076

CAUTION – Contains snark, which is known to trigger bouts of doing the right thing, as well as generating an occasional smirk.

In what should be an alien, other planet move, 10 Republicans wrote in a public letter that they would no longer pass legislation, fund the government, or vote to confirm the administration’s appointees because, they said,

“[t]he White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways. As a Senate Republican conference, [actually, there were only 10 of them, hardly a conference] we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart.”

Apparently, these kings and queen of mentally deranged projection are going on strike. They are betraying their constituents, their oath of office (which they clearly didn’t take freely and without mental reservation) and the entire nation in this performance of cowardice and servility to the orange convict.

Here are the on-strike, Senate Republican frauds:

Name and State             Re-election year

Mike Lee, UT                   2028 Vows to oppose raising the debt ceiling until there’s a balanced budget amendment. He doesn’t care who we cheat. Quite Trumpian of him.

J.D. Vance, OH                2028  Author of The Trump Suck-Up Elegies

Tommy Tuberville, AL      2026  Carpetbagger Alabama senator who doesn’t even live in Alabama.

Eric Schmitt, MO             2028

Marsha Blackburn, TN     2024  Bless her heart.

Rick Scott, FL                  2024  Net worth: $250 million. He says you should pay an extra $4,500 in taxes so you’ll “have skin in the game.”

Roger Marshall, KS.         2026

Marco Rubio, FL              2028  Doubts global warming, as FL is going underwater and as property insurance costs 4X the national average, if it’s even available to Floridians.

Josh Hawley, MO             2024  The model for double-crossing, traitorous insurrectionist fist pumps

Ron Johnson, WI              2028  Talks on a dead phone to avoid reporters’ questions.

Click the pic for a more readable view

As you can see, for most of these grand-standers there is plenty of time between now and their next election for the public to forget their infantile, performative temper tantrum. Regrets go to the folks in Florida and Missouri who now have no representation in the Senate. And don’t forget that several of these posers were key traitors in the attempt to steal the votes from 80 million Americans in 2020.

From Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You, in the context of making moral choices:

“She could have done the ‘right’ thing that night, but we only do the right thing when it doesn’t cost us.”

“We pay lip service to a vague greater good, but only when it serves our interest.”

That’s harsh, of course, but before you take umbrage, think of those statements in the context of Republican senators and representatives who know better but cave in to Trump and then say and do abhorrent fascist things. Here’s some of what that gets you.

– You get idiots in dark blue suits, white shirts and red ties showing up at the trial of the orange menace in Manhattan and saying patently stupid and flamingly false things attacking America. That’s very fascist of them.

– You get valueless, anti-American, fraudulent congressional hearings about “the Biden crime family,” a non-existent cabal fantasized by Rep, Jim Jordan (R – Alpha Centauri). “Mmm .  .  .  There is much dishonesty in this one.” – Yoda. This, too, is very fascist.

– You get the list of buffoon senators above and more, fully embracing the Republican “mass psychosis,” as Adam Kinzinger calls it. BTW: After reading this post, link through and listen to Kinzinger’s comments.

All of these Republican blabbers, these fascism promoters, these democracy killer authoritarians know what the “right” thing to do is. They all know about the greater good. But doing those “right” things would cost them just a bit of their immediate self-interest. They aren’t willing to pay the price for their integrity, much less do anything for the greater good, so they cave and they burnish their cowardice and hypocrisy skills. Very fascist – even brown shirt – of them.

Liars and cheaters and frauds, oh my!

What a ghastly contrast that is to those whom we honored last week.

D-Day

Lt. Richard L. Altschuler, 62nd & 61st Fighter Squadrons, 56th Fighter Group, 8th Army, USAAF. 69 combat missions. Photo: Boxted England, 1943

My father was in a lot of dogfights as he flew his fighter plane “escorting” our bombers over Europe to push back the Nazi terror in WW II and he flew sorties to provide cover for our ground troops, too. A lot of bad guys shot bullets, canon and anti-aircraft flak at him, but he, like 16 million fellow Americans, soldiered on, doing his duty.

156,000 soldiers and Marines stormed the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago doing their duty. 4,400 died just on D-Day. President Biden was at Normandy last week to honor all of those brave men and he did that in our name.

Click the pic for the original. Many thanks to Sheila Markin for sharing this tweet.

In ghastly contrast, during a November 2018 trip to France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, President Trump refused to go the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris to honor the thousands of our troops from both World Wars who are buried there. Dad would have been horrified by Trump’s insult.

Trump said our military dead were “losers” and “suckers.” Those words would have made Dad and all who fought alongside him furious. We all should be furious at Trump’s disrespect for those men and his dishonoring of America.

So, it was gratifying – a reset of honor – when President Biden made the trip to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery last week to salute our fallen.

About 420,000 Americans paid for World War II with their lives. They were driven by their oath, by their love of their country and by their sense of duty.

  •                    “We must make the solemn vow to never let them down.”
  • – President Joe Biden, Point du Hoc, Normandy France, June 7, 2024

We honor all our veterans on Veterans Day. When you do that later this year, say thanks to Dad and the over 16 million Americans of the Greatest Generation who did what it took to defeat fascism so that you could live in a democracy and sleep safely in the arms of freedom.

Don’t make us have to fight that fight again.
.

You know what to do. Take Dad’s picture with you as a reminder when you vote on November 5th or bring a picture of one of our military in your direct line. They would rest easy knowing that we are preserving their American values. They’d thank you if they could, knowing that we continue to honor them, what they fought for and what so many died for.

This message isn’t about the past, however brave, honorable and praiseworthy those heroes were. It is about our present and our future. It is about honor and duty to freedom and our absolute rejection of tyranny and authoritarianism. It is a dedication to democracy in our time and for our children and grandchildren and those who will come after them.

That is why we will never, never, never betray our heroes or their sacrifice or the democracy that they fought for.
Quote of the Week

“In their generation, in their hour of trial, the Allied forces of D-Day did their duty. Now the question for us is: In our hour of trial, will we do ours?” [emphasis mine-JA]

– President Joe Biden at Normandy American Cemetery, June 6, 2024

Click the pic for the video.

Today is a good day to be the light

  • _____________________________
  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    6. Clicking on most pics will take you to the source information.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Boxing and The Danger We Face


Don’t Ask the MAGA Crazies to Come To Their Senses.

Chaos and Destruction ARE Their Senses.

.

“These are the times that try men’s [and women’s] souls.” – Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776. Click, read, think, act.

The Republican Party has published its 1,000 page plan called “Project 2025.” It is a plan to completely dismantle the American government in just six months. They intend to destroy our democratic republic and establish a dictatorship with a Republican despot as absolute ruler. They promise to end your rights and freedom. They promise to destroy everything you hold dear about our country.

All they need to be able to betray us in these ways is to win the presidency, to have a compliant Supreme Court and to have a cowardly congress. That doesn’t sound too hard, does it?

And now, what better way to light the fuse to blow up our country than to shut down the government? Over 20 Republican flamers voted down their own budget plan. They did that to show what tough guys they are, to have their infantile temper tantrum, to puff up their egos, to show the Speaker who’s boss AND TO TEAR DOWN OUR DEMOCRACY, instead of honoring their oath of office to protect and defend it. They are solely about themselves, chaos and destruction.

WHERE IS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S OUTRAGE AND COUNTER-ATTACK AGAINST THESE TREASONOUS, POISONOUS PEOPLE AND THEIR ANTI-AMERICAN SCHEME?

Do the geniuses at the DNC think this monster will go away if they just close their eyes and think pretty thoughts? Maybe that’s what John Kerry thought when the Swift Boaters attacked him in 2004 with their cowardly lies. He didn’t want to dignify their filth with a reply, he told us, which is a lovely patrician idea. But his lack of pushing back only emboldened them and they poisoned enough of the American voting public that by the time Kerry at last spoke up, it was too late.

We know what has happened to the courage and patriotism of the Republicans. Those were devoured by their cowardice and hypocrisy. But where did the courage and patriotic passion of Democrats go? The bell for the 15th round has rung. There is only one boxer in the ring and his name is Fascism.

DEMOCRATS: WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?

We don’t have the luxury of patrician patience to wait for the chaos and the evil of these traitors to disappear.

Polite debate never works with bullies. The only way to stop a bully is to punch him/her in the nose.
.

The cult followers make themselves functional morons because they refuse to learn and they goose step along, happy to tear down our democracy and use violence – even inciting murder – to please their cult leader. We need to see immediate and sustained blows to the traitors to knock them out of power and to make sure they never get their hands on it again.

John Kerry refused to take such action for too long and he lost the presidency. We stand to lose our entire country if we remain quiet and passive.

“These are the times that try men’s and women’s souls.”
.

We are on trial right now.

It’s time for a bare knuckle fight for our democracy, a fight for what you know is right. The ring stands before us. Who will enter it to fight the good fight, the patriotic fight, the fight for America?

DNC: GET IN THE RING!

DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL AND STATE LEGISLATORS: GET IN THE RING!

AMERICANS WHO LOVE AND BELIEVE IN AMERICA: GET IN THE RING!

From Steve Schmidt’s The Warning on September 26:

The American people face a great test, a great reckoning. The practice of citizenship can be avoided no longer. We stand at an hour where every inch of progress that has accumulated over 250 years of time, that has lifted the human being from a condition of servitude and economic misery to prosperity and freedom, stands to be erased .  .  .

.  .  .  The American people look at Washington D.C. and they see one of the most corrupt congresses in history. They see the most corrupt Supreme Court in history, They see a fascist movement on the march. [emphasis mine]

“The practice of citizenship can be avoided no longer“ because you yourself see the corruption and the fascist march and you know in your bones that something must be done to stop this or terrible things will happen. Here’s an example of why this is important to you.

One of the things authoritarians do is to ignore the wants and needs of the people. They do that because they can. They focus simply and exclusively on what serves themselves. The Founders rebelled against just such an authoritarian.

You know quite well that 80 – 90% of Americans want stronger gun safety laws and regulations. We want Medicare for all, lower cost access to higher education and action to stop and then reverse global warming. We want our hungry children to be fed and we want racial and immigration justice. We want the insane haters to shut up and for the stupid to stop. Plus, as a placeholder for all government functions, we want a budget to be passed without the lunacy and without threats of harm to our people and the undermining of our national defense.

We want these things and consistently we do not have our way. That’s because of a terrorist minority and the cowardice of so many who refuse to stand up to the bullies.

If the fascists get their way, you will never get what you want. The minority will rule for their own benefit, not yours, and your voice will be stilled forever. Look at any authoritarian regime in history and you’ll see that it is always this way. It will be that way here, too  .  .  .  unless we fight and win and keep our democracy.

So, it’s simple:

GET IN THE RING!
GET IN THE FIGHT!
PROTECT AND DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION AND OUR DEMOCRACY!
.

Oh, and DNC:

GET IN THE RING AND LEAD THE FIGHT FOR OUR COUNTRY,
– or –
BE OBSOLETE AND INSIGNIFICANT.
.

You pick.

One more time:

Polite debate never works with bullies. The only way to stop a bully is to punch him/her in the nose.
.

If you’re unsure about that, check with both Neville Chamberlain and Mallory McMorrow for a shocking comparison.

Most Important
Here’s how you can get into the ring and land some punches – CLICK ME.
Today is a good day to be the light

______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Idiotica – Part 2


“You Never Thought This Could Happen” Idiotica

You already know that lots of Republicans champion autocrats (read: dictators) Putin, Erdoğan and Orbán. These Americans wildly cheer these strongmen who have killed democracy in their countries. It’s shocking to recall that just a few short years ago Republicans were the hardliners against such despots and their brutal regimes. Consider that we invaded Iraq using various fictions as rationale, but the best was that Saddam Hussein was a bad guy and had to be deposed. I guess we no longer disfavor bad guys.

You also know that Republicans are wailing about what they are calling the “weaponization of the Department of Justice and the FBI.” According to them, if justice is served, it’s really Democrats that are misusing the power of our Constitution and our laws to victimize “true Americans” (read: Republicans).

Question: Will will they sing that same stupid song now that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has been indicted?

The ones making this idiotic, un-American claim used to demand tough enforcement of our laws. Republicans were the ones who claimed theirs to be the party of law and order, always advocating that we lock up bad guys. Not so much today. Now, they coddle Republican bad guys.

A while back Trump announced that after he wins the 2024 election that he will pardon the convicted January 6 insurrectionists. Two other Republican candidates have weighed in on the sentences given to the poor, mistreated insurrectionists and have suggested that they, too, if elected, will pardon the traitors who killed cops and tried to end our democracy.

The thumping of chests, neck veins throbbing and fingers in the air in patriotic fervor that these guys do is just performative patriotism. They’ve abandoned any real patriotism for this country.

Just a few years ago you couldn’t have imagined that these turncoats would betray the red, white and blue and embrace the Confederate flag of treason and the Trump flag of the middle finger but they have. They are strong, disgusting and contemptuous. They have infected 25 – 40% of our fellow countrymen and are festering in the party that used to be for law and order and was tough on crime.

That’s what a constant torrent of lies and cowardice can do. That’s why this is

You Never Thought This Could Happen Idiotica
.
Authoritarian Idiotica

Writes Prof. Heather Cox Richardson,

Today’s Republicans have abandoned the Reagan-era Republican plan to gut the federal government and are instead determined to capture it, replacing nonpartisan civil servants with Republican extremists who will carry out the ideals of Trump or any candidate like him who can defeat Biden in 2024. Their nearly 1,000-page plan, called “Project 2025,” calls for politicizing the Department of Justice and law enforcement officers and giving far more power to the president.

If it matters to you to prevent such a thing, read this from Sheila Markin:

There is only one way to burn out the MAGA movement and using a process argument such as the disqualification clause of the 14th Amendment will not do the trick. Voters need to rise up and vote in large numbers to reject the movement .  .  .

Trump and Trumpism has to be repelled over and over and over again by voters, by the legal system and by voices from rational respected GOP leaders until the fever breaks.

Breaking that fever won’t happen because we have at last infused our angry, mistreated-by-lies citizens with something connected to reality. We need to understand thoroughly that breaking that fever won’t happen even if Democrats sweep the 2024 election or the 2026 or 2028 elections.

The MAGAs are so invested in anger and distrust of government, they’re so desperate to retain their White Christian hegemony and afraid of anything not familiar to them that breaking that fever won’t take just years, but generations. So, we must saddle up for the long campaign, the battles to inculcate reality and democracy as core tenets of our nation. Expect glacially slow progress. Expect the struggle to never end, because it won’t.

Expect to hand off this struggle for America to your children and be glad to do that. This is a worthy, if never ending, task that we in America are privileged to do. Thank your lucky stars, if you believe in such things, that you can.

Blatant Lies Idiotica

From Thom Hartman:

One particularly egregious tweet says: “Joe Biden and his party shuttered schools, forced masks on their faces, and put vaccines in their arms, all while holding our children back in ways that will have long-lasting impacts on their educational future. Joe Biden and the Democrats put power over our kids.” The only problem is that all of those things happened in 2020 and were done by Trump.

The RNC has gone so far as to use pictures and video from 2020 to attack Biden. Kevin McCarthy and Iowa Congressman Feenstra have both tweeted that, “President Biden not only paid people to stay home at the expense of American taxpayers, but under his watch $191 BILLION in unemployment benefits were also misspent and wasted.” Again, that was Trump. But their tweets are still up: clearly, they believe Republican voters are mindbogglingly stupid. [emphasis mine]

Meanwhile, Republicans in the House have decided they’re going to try to impeach President Biden for “accepting bribes.” The only problem they have is that there’s absolutely no evidence — not a shred or even a hint of a shred [of evidence] — to back up that claim. That said, there was also no evidence that after Republicans in Congress refused the CIA’s funding request to harden Benghazi and the station was attacked that Hillary Clinton had anything to do with it. That didn’t stop them from spending two years and tens of millions of dollars trying to convince Americans she was responsible.

Republican Fascism Idiotica

No, that isn’t hyperbole. It is exactly what the Republican extremists have been working to create for five decades. It’s only in the past two decades and, more blatantly, in the past few years that this has become both obvious and an immediate threat to our democracy. A lot of super rich guys longing to be oligarchs like such things.

I don’t expect you to blindly accept the messages on these pages, so instead listen to what Robert Reich has to say about this. He worked for four presidents, is a former Secretary of Labor and now is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. His 6-minute video will properly educate you on the fascism threat we are facing.

Fascism threatens America: Quod erat demonstrandum.

They’re trying to force Republican-led fascism onto you and onto America. Our challenge as always is the BarcaLounger thing: gotta get off it. We have to vote and we must encourage others to vote for democracy. See the graphic below for the timeline.

For specificity on Republican Idiotica, see the list at the bottom of this post.

Quote of the Week

“Democracy is not restricted to voting for someone for president once every four years,” UAW organizer Victor Reuther told [Documentarian Greg] Mitchell. “It is something that you can utilize and participate in where you work eight hours or 10 hours a day.”

  • Nia T. Evans
  • Mother Jones Daily
  • September 20, 2023
Must Read of the Week

Jeffrey Goldberg has penned a sizzling page turner in The Atlantic entitled The Patriot. He details the efforts of Gen. Mark Milley in the post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff working to restrain President Trump from his vilest, unconstitutional and cruel intentions during the insane last year of his presidency. However bad you imagine things might have been, however close to losing our democracy you have feared we were, I assure you that it was worse. Here’s a link to the article.

_______________________________

You can find Idiotica – Part 1 here.

Today is a good day to be the light

______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Rights and The Fourth of July


Idiotic Theories and Your Rights

Collect the entire set of Rights Elimination Bobbleheads

Trump’s infamous attorney general, Bill Barr, is an enthusiastic proponent of the radical “unitary executive theory.” He promoted it in his 19-page suck-up application to be Trump’s suck-up AG.

Jeffrey Clark, the mental lightweight DOJ supporter of Trump’s attempt to make himself Permanent Emperor of the United States, is also a unitary executive theory bobblehead.

The New York Times wrote:

Like other conservatives, Mr. Clark adheres to the so-called unitary executive theory, which holds that the president of the United States has the power to directly control the entire federal bureaucracy and Congress cannot fracture that control by giving some officials independent decision-making authority.

That idiotic theory is related to the “independent state legislature doctrine,” which would effectively eliminate elections, allowing radical state legislatures to select office holders instead of We The People doing that. Both notions are efforts to crush democracy – i.e. your rights.

Imagine if extremist state legislatures or Trump were awarded dictatorial powers. That would be the end of this as a nation of laws. Instead, this would be a nation at the whim of tyrants with fever dreams of grandiosity. Good thing the Supreme Court just smacked down some of that extremist garbage. More on that next week (and see the Comment about this below).

You know that dictatorial power is what Trump wants. So does Ron DeSantis. That alone should motivate you to make sure that nobody who isn’t an enthusiastic promoter of rights and democracy ever gets his/her hands on any public power. Those extremist – not conservative – schemes are exactly how the far right crazies intend to take away your rights and end your democracy. They want to end majority rule in America.

You’ve played by majority rule since you were on the grade school playground. I’m betting you can’t think of a single reason to do things differently, but the bad guys in the minority can. Their reason is that they want everything – all the money and all the power – for themselves. And they most certainly don’t want any non-Christian, non-White “others” to have power or rights, Constitution and Bill of Rights be damned. Plus, they don’t care a bit about you.

Good thing you know what to do about those guys who want to steal your rights.

Clarity About Rights

For the moment, consider abortion as a placeholder for all rights. First, you must read Prof. Heather Cox Richardson’s explainer, which follows her opening section about the recent Russian drama.

While nobody likes abortion and most agree with a ban following 24 weeks of gestation (meaning fetal viability), a huge majority of Americans believe abortion is sometimes necessary and should be a right. And we Americans love our rights. You remember that “Land of the Free” business, don’t you? That means rights.

And that’s true, even as some believe that you should not have all the same rights as they have, like voting rights. Some Supreme Court justices think you shouldn’t have a right to birth control. Some autocrat wannabes want to impose their might and their religious beliefs on you to further limit your rights. Are you feeling good about that?

No, you’re not. You don’t want anyone putting their knee on the neck of your rights, George Floyd murder style.

So, wave the flag on the 4th of July for your rights, for everyone’s rights, for majority rule, all of which means democracy. Yeah, that’s a good thing to wave the flag for. Here’s how to do that.

Grit For Rights

Mallory McMorrow

I’ve been an enthusiastic fan of Michigan state Senator Mallory McMorrow since her take down in April 2022 of a hatred spewing Michigan state legislator. See why here.

And because you care about murderers killing children, watch her commentary following the Uvalde massacre. Her message is a good one, too, for the anniversary of the Highland Park massacre. And the Little Rock nightclub massacre. And the massacre of Dallas police officers. And the Aurora, CO movie theater massacre. And the Grand Rapids, MI massacre.

Right, you don’t quite remember all of those. That’s because there is a mass murder every day, so only the ones that are spectacular in some way stand out.

Like little kids shredded so badly by assault weapon bullets in Uvalde that DNA samples were needed to identify them. That massacre happened while cops had an unscheduled rest period in the school hallway for an hour while listening to the murderer’s gunfire.

But every one of those people who were shot, regardless of whether we remember the events, had a right to live. I know you remember that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness thing. That’s about rights. And the right to life was taken away from every one of those murdered people.

Then our leaders stood, with drooping heads, pathetically mumbling something about some damned thoughts and prayers and that this isn’t the time, or some such cowardly drivel. And they DID NOTHING to prevent the next mass killings, so those happened and they keep happening.

The reason for providing those McMorrow links is for you to see what standing strong for what you know is right looks like. Our country needs lots more of this power from you and from me and from all of us. It’s time for moderation in our messaging to end. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

    • Mr. Nice Guy – n. a verbal construction connoting powerlessness; devoid of strength; lacking backbone; avoiding necessary confrontation.
    • – Disambiguation Dictionary, 2023

So, risk having the tough, necessary conversations. Your model for that is in those McMorrow links.

Tell it strong. Tell it from your heart and from your gut. Tell it for your children and your grandchildren who are terrified that they’re next. Tell it for all the people who can no longer tell it for themselves.

And tell your Democratic candidates to reach down, grab their power and wake up their woke. Nice guy milquetoasts are of no use to us at all. This is our time to stand strong.

Wave the flag for that on Tuesday.

Late Friday Extra: Jim Crow Rights

Many rotten tomatoes go to the Supreme Court for its recent decisions on: 1. an entirely hypothetical scenario of a website developer refusing service for a gay couple’s wedding website (they had not asked for one); 2. striking down Affirmative Action in higher education admissions, and; 3. striking down student loan forgiveness. Jim Crow discrimination and segregation have officially been brought back and expanded. Here is a pair of snapshots of facilities with updated signage to accommodate the Court’s decisions.

Click me. I’m suitable for framing.

It’s a new day, but it sure looks a lot like the old days.

Today is a good day to be the light.

______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.

    Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take a lot of us to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

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