Yesterday, the head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency, Brigadier General Kyrylo Budanov, told Military Times that he expects Russia to attack his country in late January or early February. Russia has placed more than 92,000 troops at its border with Ukraine.
The African American population in the US is 12.4%, the transgender population probably less than 0.5% and immigrants can’t vote. The only demographic strong enough to resist the trend towards authoritarianism or the restoration of a white male 19th century “republic” are women. Women do make up a majority of the population.
Personally, I think the greatest perceived threat to the old order is the society-wide rebalancing of male-female power. The GOP is not blind to this. Note the “Proud Boys”, note Yale educated Sen.Hawley saying feminists are forcing men to watch porn, note the impunity of pussy-grabbing bragging, note abortion-vigilante Texas. Thankfully --and it is probably no coincidence--- some of our best leaders and thinkers are women. Thank you Nancy P. thank you Stacey A., thank you Amy K, thank you Heather and many others. You are our best hope for the survival of a decent, sustainable society.
Disclosure: I am a believer in Christ, a Christian of the more progressive beliefs which include not mixing the church with secular power. Therefore I cringe whenever I hear the nationalists from the pulpit and the halls of government wanting a "Christian nation". They do not want a Christian nation, only the power of imposing all people their brand of Christianity on all, including other Christians who do not believe exactly as they do. I have family members of the evangelical bent who believe that Democrats (of which I am one) are the scum of the earth, that women should stay in their place (another strike against me), and so forth and so forth. They will accept gays to some extent as one of my nephews is gay and in a monogamous relationship. And some people of color are okay as two of my grandnieces have a father of darker pigmentation. When they say they want a "Christian nation" I like to refer them to Jesus's teaching of feed the hungry, cloth the poor, be humble, and the rest. When they rail against the "Socialists", I refer them to the prophets railing against the king (the government) and the wealthy of not taking care of the poor and the foreigner within the country. I am no theologian but I do know that mixing the church with secular government usually comes to a bad end, especially for the church.
This is among the very best letters. It helps me fully grasp the global context of what's happening abroad and at home. And it's frightening. The tragic irony is that hordes of self-professed, flag-waving freedom lovers either don't understand or support the true freedom on which the nation was founded. In fact, they believe freedom is under assault. They could be in for a rude awakening if the "soft fascists" ultimately win.
If any religion embodies the Biblical injunctions to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, and live in community, it has to be the traditional Black churches of the U.S. The very idea that they should be marginalized while today's gun-toting white evangelicals are held up as the norm, is preposterous.
One name which does not appear at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence is that of John Dickinson, although he was a member of the Continental Congress and one of the architects of the American revolution. Not the least through his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, although he was in fact a solicitor and one of the wealthiest men in the British American colonies. A true conservative, Dickinson always hoped for reconciliation with Britain, and that the British monarch rather than indulging in his own tyrannical impulses would listen to the reasonable arguments of the colonists. Ha! As if. A man of integrity, and although opposed to violent revolution, rather than sign the Declaration, Dickinson left the Congress and, as an officer of the Pennsylvania militia, led 10,000 soldiers to Elizabeth, New Jersey, to protect that area against British attack from Staten Island. I know most of this from the musical 1776 with some help from Wikipedia.
Now compare that to today's American conservatives from America's first Hitler fanboys Joseph Kennedy and Henry Ford to, well, America Firster Nazi fanboys such as Donald Trump - none of whom put their lives on the line for America. And who rather than oppose tyrants want to join their ranks by indulging their own authoritarian impulses - at the expense of all the Founders believed in and at the expense of Americans' independence.
But don't take my word for that. Consider John Dean's (yes that John Dean) Conservatives Without Conscience, conceived in collaboration with Barry Goldwater. The book is "dedicated to unmasking what he sees as the new and dangerous breed of “tough, coldblooded, ruthless authoritarians” who have “co-opted” conservatism." Dean builds on "the theoretical concept of right-wing authoritarianism that was introduced in 1981 by the Canadian-American social psychologist Bob Altemeyer, as a refinement of the authoritarian personality theory originally pioneered by University of California, Berkeley, researchers Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford."
What? No mention of Hannah Arendt?
A key concept of whose Origins of Totalitarianism "was the application of Kant's phrase "Radical Evil", which she applied to the men who created and carried out such tyranny [as Nazism and Stalinism] and their depiction of their victims as "Superfluous People"." And whose hold on power "invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty." Arendt notes that "autocratic regimes seek only to gain absolute political power and to outlaw opposition, while totalitarian regimes seek to dominate every aspect of everyone's life as a prelude to world domination." Which folks is what we have in the Republican party as the bastard child of the plutocrats and the religious extremists dominating American 'conservatism'.
There are times one wishes that US "intelligence" at Can't Investigate Anything had known back in 1952 that the Soviet Union had 10 A-bombs and no delivery system, while the US had 400 A-bombs and a delivery system in SAC that could place them anywhere in the USSR, and had acted with the Soviet Union from that position of power (yes kids, all those drills about hiding under desks to protect from A-bombs that gave you nightmares were ridiculous - the Russians weren't coming because they couldn't). I don't mean World War III, but they could have been "dealt with" more effectively with that knowledge. Interestingly, they knew those facts, and managed through the 50s to created a "Potemkin threat" that had us spending over $2 billion in 1950s dollars to create the "Century series" of interceptors, the DEW Line, and all the rest - and engage in a self-destructive act of political demagoguery to oppose a domestic Left that was even less powerful - to oppose the "Communist threat" that didn't exist, as was discovered in the 1990s when the Soviet archives were opened to researchers. And now, when they're even weaker, they unfortunately have 2,400 nuclear weapons and delivery systems for them, so they can't be "dealt with."
"In today’s America, those who call themselves 'conservative' are the very opposite of conservative: they are dangerous radicals seeking to bring us to our knees by attacking the grand philosophy that made this nation great—and which, if we could finally make it a reality, could make it greater still—replacing it with the stunted beliefs of petty tyrants."
It breaks my heart to witness this downward spiral into totalitarian ideology. What was the point of WWII -- the horrendous loss of life -- if not to restore the German people and European sanity and well-being from the throes of fascism? The move toward heightened and unconscionable bigotry, racism, white supremacy, and injustice -- as though they didn't already lurk in the shadows and around every dark corner in this country -- is terrifying to observe first hand. We mustn't allow it to gain momentum and overtake our country -- one which has been built on liberal -- although decidedly flawed -- foundations.
Again, I find myself limited in bandwidth, plus limited in time this morning (leaving to drive a friend 2 hours to Portland for a post shoulder replacement post op, in freezing fog). You hit the nail on the head when you said "In today’s America, those who call themselves “conservative” are the very opposite of conservative: they are dangerous radicals seeking to bring us to our knees by attacking the grand philosophy that made this nation great—and which, if we could finally make it a reality, could make it greater still—replacing it with the stunted beliefs of petty tyrants."
THIS is what I have been thinking/feeling/believing that the Republiscum have become. Thank you for those words.
Thank you Heather! You have summed it up so well. All of my scattered thoughts and worries about the direction our country is going in is truly frightening. And Knowledge is power. And the knowledge you share is so important and powerful. There are so many people that are indifferent and/or in the ignorance is bliss state. How do we wake them up? I read the Washington Post online and their logo “Democracy dies in Darkness” has a profound effect on me every time I read it.
From threatening clashes in Central and Eastern Europe and the deaths in Waukesha, Wis. to the clamor in the House of Representatives and the battle over the future of Liberal Democracy -- but that's not all. There is the humanitarian crisis in Mozambique; the severe hunger crisis in the Democratic Republic Congo; the economic crisis in Venezuela; the risk of famine in Yemen, and the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis in Burkina Faso. But that's not all. There's the Pandemic -- The COVID-19 Vaccination Gulf Widens Between Wealthy, Developing Countries -- Less than 10% of African countries to hit the key COVID-19 vaccination goal and, of course, there's the Climate Catastrophe. The world is not a safe place and neither is America. HCR's Letter ended with the following:
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776. THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
And that is not all, we are now fifty United States of America.
Is this just some quaint old relic, 'an object, custom, or belief that has survived from an earlier time but is now outmoded' or a declaration of our commitment to the future of American Democracy? That is a huge question.
Thank you HCR for that last paragraph. It eloquently sums up what you have been saying over and over---and has an implicit call to action. Action it will need to be---getting out the vote, suing in court to overturn deceit and grabs for power, raising the proud banner of true liberalism (and getting the neo-liberals back in the barn or wherever :-) ). Liberty strides forward with a flowing flag---a proud image; time to reclaim it!!!!
As she always does, six days a week, Heather spells out in clear terms what is going on and what is at stake. And yet, just three weeks ago, we saw Virginia, a state that polls +12 points more Democratic than the national average, elect a Republican governor. And no, it wasn't because of voter suppression (yet). It was because the (still) single biggest reason these regressive half-wits are in or coming to power is US. Yes, us, the people of this country who love to blame but not look in the mirror. Because Democratic voter turnout in the Virginia election, while strong, wasn't AS strong as Republican. Why? Why, one year after choosing Biden for president is this the case? Answer: there is ZERO excuse other than we simply can't be bothered. Too many of us anyway. Until we, as a people, get tired of the ass-kickings, we'll see this worsen. Until we INSIST, with every means we can muster (we're still only trying with one hand behind our backs, if we're being honest with ourselves), we will continue to get what we deserve. We can still do WAY more and WAY better. Get involved, write your congressperson, donate money, and for the love of God, VOTE.
Yesterday I rode my bike from my place in the Bayview district on the east side of San Francisco out through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach on the west side. I'm not a depressive person but the politics in this country are pushing me close to the edge and the Pacific usually brings me peace. As I sat taking it in I had this thought: The US needs to have a MARCH FOR DEMOCRACY well before the primaries next year. Republicans, Independents, and Democrats moderate, liberal and progressive, MARCH TOGETHER to support OUR DEMOCRACY. No more silence from the MAJORITY! I have a book that has a chapter INTO ACTION. That's what we all need to do.No more crazy people, including California's Kevin McCarthy, thinking they are in some majority.
We've watched as the electoral college and the Supreme Court have put Republicans in the presidency while loosing the popular vote, we've seen gerrymandering destroy voting districts, and watched as one criminal named Mitch McConnell helped another criminal put democracy on shaky ground.
Yesterday there weren't enough endorphins to make me feel better.
What jumps out for me is that the economy of Russia is the size of the Texas economy and that of Hungary is the size of Michigan. Should these minority anti-Democratic forces prevail in the US we will have true minority rule. Maybe we need to coin a new word: “tinyminority”. The Tinyminority would dictate to large majority states like California and New York. The Tinyminority would control through force of arms and greater willful mastery of politics the lives of most of us. That is so in these authoritarian countries - and also true in China. A few men with guns can dictate what happens to a large group who have no guns. The Rittenhouse case shows that guns are being legitimized as a response to legitimate protest against abusive misuse of police enforcement powers.
When the Democrats in the House passed the BBB bill, they danced and whooped and hollered in celebration. That image stays with me. The image of healthy governing for the good of the people. Meanwhile the Republicans act like joyless zombie ghouls, only grimly happy when they are in control.
We must find a way to stop this Tinyminority rule and keep alive the joyful celebrations of success in working for the good of all.
The African American population in the US is 12.4%, the transgender population probably less than 0.5% and immigrants can’t vote. The only demographic strong enough to resist the trend towards authoritarianism or the restoration of a white male 19th century “republic” are women. Women do make up a majority of the population.
Personally, I think the greatest perceived threat to the old order is the society-wide rebalancing of male-female power. The GOP is not blind to this. Note the “Proud Boys”, note Yale educated Sen.Hawley saying feminists are forcing men to watch porn, note the impunity of pussy-grabbing bragging, note abortion-vigilante Texas. Thankfully --and it is probably no coincidence--- some of our best leaders and thinkers are women. Thank you Nancy P. thank you Stacey A., thank you Amy K, thank you Heather and many others. You are our best hope for the survival of a decent, sustainable society.
Disclosure: I am a believer in Christ, a Christian of the more progressive beliefs which include not mixing the church with secular power. Therefore I cringe whenever I hear the nationalists from the pulpit and the halls of government wanting a "Christian nation". They do not want a Christian nation, only the power of imposing all people their brand of Christianity on all, including other Christians who do not believe exactly as they do. I have family members of the evangelical bent who believe that Democrats (of which I am one) are the scum of the earth, that women should stay in their place (another strike against me), and so forth and so forth. They will accept gays to some extent as one of my nephews is gay and in a monogamous relationship. And some people of color are okay as two of my grandnieces have a father of darker pigmentation. When they say they want a "Christian nation" I like to refer them to Jesus's teaching of feed the hungry, cloth the poor, be humble, and the rest. When they rail against the "Socialists", I refer them to the prophets railing against the king (the government) and the wealthy of not taking care of the poor and the foreigner within the country. I am no theologian but I do know that mixing the church with secular government usually comes to a bad end, especially for the church.
This is among the very best letters. It helps me fully grasp the global context of what's happening abroad and at home. And it's frightening. The tragic irony is that hordes of self-professed, flag-waving freedom lovers either don't understand or support the true freedom on which the nation was founded. In fact, they believe freedom is under assault. They could be in for a rude awakening if the "soft fascists" ultimately win.
If any religion embodies the Biblical injunctions to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, and live in community, it has to be the traditional Black churches of the U.S. The very idea that they should be marginalized while today's gun-toting white evangelicals are held up as the norm, is preposterous.
One name which does not appear at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence is that of John Dickinson, although he was a member of the Continental Congress and one of the architects of the American revolution. Not the least through his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, although he was in fact a solicitor and one of the wealthiest men in the British American colonies. A true conservative, Dickinson always hoped for reconciliation with Britain, and that the British monarch rather than indulging in his own tyrannical impulses would listen to the reasonable arguments of the colonists. Ha! As if. A man of integrity, and although opposed to violent revolution, rather than sign the Declaration, Dickinson left the Congress and, as an officer of the Pennsylvania militia, led 10,000 soldiers to Elizabeth, New Jersey, to protect that area against British attack from Staten Island. I know most of this from the musical 1776 with some help from Wikipedia.
Now compare that to today's American conservatives from America's first Hitler fanboys Joseph Kennedy and Henry Ford to, well, America Firster Nazi fanboys such as Donald Trump - none of whom put their lives on the line for America. And who rather than oppose tyrants want to join their ranks by indulging their own authoritarian impulses - at the expense of all the Founders believed in and at the expense of Americans' independence.
But don't take my word for that. Consider John Dean's (yes that John Dean) Conservatives Without Conscience, conceived in collaboration with Barry Goldwater. The book is "dedicated to unmasking what he sees as the new and dangerous breed of “tough, coldblooded, ruthless authoritarians” who have “co-opted” conservatism." Dean builds on "the theoretical concept of right-wing authoritarianism that was introduced in 1981 by the Canadian-American social psychologist Bob Altemeyer, as a refinement of the authoritarian personality theory originally pioneered by University of California, Berkeley, researchers Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford."
What? No mention of Hannah Arendt?
A key concept of whose Origins of Totalitarianism "was the application of Kant's phrase "Radical Evil", which she applied to the men who created and carried out such tyranny [as Nazism and Stalinism] and their depiction of their victims as "Superfluous People"." And whose hold on power "invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty." Arendt notes that "autocratic regimes seek only to gain absolute political power and to outlaw opposition, while totalitarian regimes seek to dominate every aspect of everyone's life as a prelude to world domination." Which folks is what we have in the Republican party as the bastard child of the plutocrats and the religious extremists dominating American 'conservatism'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxaAw2viEIQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dickinson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_from_a_Farmer_in_Pennsylvania
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/books/review/30gillespie.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authoritarianism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarian_personality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origins_of_Totalitarianism
There are times one wishes that US "intelligence" at Can't Investigate Anything had known back in 1952 that the Soviet Union had 10 A-bombs and no delivery system, while the US had 400 A-bombs and a delivery system in SAC that could place them anywhere in the USSR, and had acted with the Soviet Union from that position of power (yes kids, all those drills about hiding under desks to protect from A-bombs that gave you nightmares were ridiculous - the Russians weren't coming because they couldn't). I don't mean World War III, but they could have been "dealt with" more effectively with that knowledge. Interestingly, they knew those facts, and managed through the 50s to created a "Potemkin threat" that had us spending over $2 billion in 1950s dollars to create the "Century series" of interceptors, the DEW Line, and all the rest - and engage in a self-destructive act of political demagoguery to oppose a domestic Left that was even less powerful - to oppose the "Communist threat" that didn't exist, as was discovered in the 1990s when the Soviet archives were opened to researchers. And now, when they're even weaker, they unfortunately have 2,400 nuclear weapons and delivery systems for them, so they can't be "dealt with."
"In today’s America, those who call themselves 'conservative' are the very opposite of conservative: they are dangerous radicals seeking to bring us to our knees by attacking the grand philosophy that made this nation great—and which, if we could finally make it a reality, could make it greater still—replacing it with the stunted beliefs of petty tyrants."
It breaks my heart to witness this downward spiral into totalitarian ideology. What was the point of WWII -- the horrendous loss of life -- if not to restore the German people and European sanity and well-being from the throes of fascism? The move toward heightened and unconscionable bigotry, racism, white supremacy, and injustice -- as though they didn't already lurk in the shadows and around every dark corner in this country -- is terrifying to observe first hand. We mustn't allow it to gain momentum and overtake our country -- one which has been built on liberal -- although decidedly flawed -- foundations.
Again, I find myself limited in bandwidth, plus limited in time this morning (leaving to drive a friend 2 hours to Portland for a post shoulder replacement post op, in freezing fog). You hit the nail on the head when you said "In today’s America, those who call themselves “conservative” are the very opposite of conservative: they are dangerous radicals seeking to bring us to our knees by attacking the grand philosophy that made this nation great—and which, if we could finally make it a reality, could make it greater still—replacing it with the stunted beliefs of petty tyrants."
THIS is what I have been thinking/feeling/believing that the Republiscum have become. Thank you for those words.
WHY, WHY are you not interviewed on the media outlets? MSNBC, PBS, CNN? We know F-X wouldn’t have the guts to interview you … but, the others?
Does anyone else remember when Putin said that he had something much better than nuclear weapons to stop the United States? Trump is Putin's chew toy.
Thank you Heather! You have summed it up so well. All of my scattered thoughts and worries about the direction our country is going in is truly frightening. And Knowledge is power. And the knowledge you share is so important and powerful. There are so many people that are indifferent and/or in the ignorance is bliss state. How do we wake them up? I read the Washington Post online and their logo “Democracy dies in Darkness” has a profound effect on me every time I read it.
From threatening clashes in Central and Eastern Europe and the deaths in Waukesha, Wis. to the clamor in the House of Representatives and the battle over the future of Liberal Democracy -- but that's not all. There is the humanitarian crisis in Mozambique; the severe hunger crisis in the Democratic Republic Congo; the economic crisis in Venezuela; the risk of famine in Yemen, and the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis in Burkina Faso. But that's not all. There's the Pandemic -- The COVID-19 Vaccination Gulf Widens Between Wealthy, Developing Countries -- Less than 10% of African countries to hit the key COVID-19 vaccination goal and, of course, there's the Climate Catastrophe. The world is not a safe place and neither is America. HCR's Letter ended with the following:
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776. THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
And that is not all, we are now fifty United States of America.
Is this just some quaint old relic, 'an object, custom, or belief that has survived from an earlier time but is now outmoded' or a declaration of our commitment to the future of American Democracy? That is a huge question.
Thank you HCR for that last paragraph. It eloquently sums up what you have been saying over and over---and has an implicit call to action. Action it will need to be---getting out the vote, suing in court to overturn deceit and grabs for power, raising the proud banner of true liberalism (and getting the neo-liberals back in the barn or wherever :-) ). Liberty strides forward with a flowing flag---a proud image; time to reclaim it!!!!
Peace and Courage.
As she always does, six days a week, Heather spells out in clear terms what is going on and what is at stake. And yet, just three weeks ago, we saw Virginia, a state that polls +12 points more Democratic than the national average, elect a Republican governor. And no, it wasn't because of voter suppression (yet). It was because the (still) single biggest reason these regressive half-wits are in or coming to power is US. Yes, us, the people of this country who love to blame but not look in the mirror. Because Democratic voter turnout in the Virginia election, while strong, wasn't AS strong as Republican. Why? Why, one year after choosing Biden for president is this the case? Answer: there is ZERO excuse other than we simply can't be bothered. Too many of us anyway. Until we, as a people, get tired of the ass-kickings, we'll see this worsen. Until we INSIST, with every means we can muster (we're still only trying with one hand behind our backs, if we're being honest with ourselves), we will continue to get what we deserve. We can still do WAY more and WAY better. Get involved, write your congressperson, donate money, and for the love of God, VOTE.
Yesterday I rode my bike from my place in the Bayview district on the east side of San Francisco out through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach on the west side. I'm not a depressive person but the politics in this country are pushing me close to the edge and the Pacific usually brings me peace. As I sat taking it in I had this thought: The US needs to have a MARCH FOR DEMOCRACY well before the primaries next year. Republicans, Independents, and Democrats moderate, liberal and progressive, MARCH TOGETHER to support OUR DEMOCRACY. No more silence from the MAJORITY! I have a book that has a chapter INTO ACTION. That's what we all need to do.No more crazy people, including California's Kevin McCarthy, thinking they are in some majority.
We've watched as the electoral college and the Supreme Court have put Republicans in the presidency while loosing the popular vote, we've seen gerrymandering destroy voting districts, and watched as one criminal named Mitch McConnell helped another criminal put democracy on shaky ground.
Yesterday there weren't enough endorphins to make me feel better.
What jumps out for me is that the economy of Russia is the size of the Texas economy and that of Hungary is the size of Michigan. Should these minority anti-Democratic forces prevail in the US we will have true minority rule. Maybe we need to coin a new word: “tinyminority”. The Tinyminority would dictate to large majority states like California and New York. The Tinyminority would control through force of arms and greater willful mastery of politics the lives of most of us. That is so in these authoritarian countries - and also true in China. A few men with guns can dictate what happens to a large group who have no guns. The Rittenhouse case shows that guns are being legitimized as a response to legitimate protest against abusive misuse of police enforcement powers.
When the Democrats in the House passed the BBB bill, they danced and whooped and hollered in celebration. That image stays with me. The image of healthy governing for the good of the people. Meanwhile the Republicans act like joyless zombie ghouls, only grimly happy when they are in control.
We must find a way to stop this Tinyminority rule and keep alive the joyful celebrations of success in working for the good of all.