While Trump hungers for retribution and extremist Republicans mock successes of modern liberal government, a network of right-wing groups plot a fascist takeover with an all-powerful U.S. president
You have clearly spelled out what awaits us as a nation. Now it’s time wake up those who want to keep us a Democracy but have left that chore to someone else. We have tried to “sell” the accomplishments of our democracy by illuminating the benefits but that has not awakened enough momentum to insure its survival.
We must be more explicit in how we show the cruelty, the loss of freedom, the horrors that a dictatorship with a Fascist bent will bring.
Very well put sir. My undergraduate and one year of graduate study was spent studying under Dr. Helmut Haeussler at California State University Northridge. His family left Germany in the 1920s when he was a child. He served in the 82nd Airborne in WWII as an intelligence specialist and interpreter. After the war he stayed on as an interrogator and interpreter at Nuremberg for the International Military Tribunal and the subsequent trials in the American Zone. He allowed me to do a deep dive over 3 years on Weimar, the Nazi era, and the War Crimes trials. I have spent years in Germany and like you when I go to Berlin, Munich, and Nuremberg I cannot get over how far Trump and the GOP have gone in their pursuit of dictatorship. God help us if they ever get back in power, even if it is someone other than Trump. The poison of Fascism has transformed the GOP.
I'm concerned about that as well. I think even people who would never vote for such a beast like trump, may still believe that this is not a topic for polite conversation and don't realize the thin line of democracy is only based on the will of individual people to embrace it and follow the principles of it. As we saw under trump, that doesn't happen. It isn't just that people are afraid of MAGA voters, but also that they find all American voters a pain in the neck, including their own.
Steven, unfortunately you are all too correct. We are all responsible for letting this happen to the extent we have been lazy and/or complacent or just plain too concerned about making it from paycheck to paycheck and day to day. Now is the time to stand our ground. We are seeing that happen in FL where parents are fighting back against censorship about what their kids are taught. We are seeing it in the work of Jack Smith, Fanni Willis, and others.
But what we really need is to speak truth to power. Call it what it is. Authoritarianism, Facism, Racism, White Nationalism, corruption, pay to play, market power and monopolizing economic control in the hands of a few (really and oligarchy like Russia). A pithy way to say it is the Russification or Putinization of America.
I’ve followed HCR and many others for years now and all my life have read books about Nazi Germany & WWII. This whole fascist push is incredibly scary. A couple weeks back, Trump said “I am your retribution.” There couldn’t be a clearer fascist statement, to my way of thinking. And we’re seeing that playing out in the GOP led House. It will only get worse wherever Rs have the lead. The task ahead of us is huge but absolutely essential for the survival of our democracy. Because if democracy doesn’t prevail, something else will. Thank you for this article today!
At this point the positions they are taking are so clear. This is a time to speak to our children and grandchildren to educate them on the dangers and for us to redouble our efforts to support those who understand what’s at stake.
We can also call it group narcissism exploited by malignant narcissists such as Trump, and so many of the GOP fellow travelers. It is a destructionist and nihilistic view of the world where all that matters is who wields power over the rest of us regardless of the economic and social fabric of society is turned into a smoldering pile of ruble from which nothing can be built.
On the other hand, what Biden seeks to do is build, to provide an economic and social bases where we all can succeed, thrive, pursue happiness as envisioned by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and truly be free to make decisions to chart our own course as individuals and as a country. I’m this vision of the future people are not led by the dictator and his/her minions by fear, we the people lead by what we choose and allow others to choose. It is. It about narcissism, but it is about openness to new experiences, cultures, education and learning, understanding our past, innovating new technology or new ways of living that benefits more than just the single individual...but all of us and the environment in which we live.
Steven I sound like a broken record but I firmly believe that those of us that care to "Save" our Democracy will do whatever it takes to secure the objective of a Super Majority come November 2024!
Been seeing this coming for so long. I’ve been trying to convince my family to move out of the country for years and just can’t get them there. I can’t leave without them. These authoritarians almost succeeded with the 2020 election, with all the gerrymandering, all the cheating, the multiprong effort to put Trump back in charge. they should all have been in jail immediately. Our system of government is just not designed to fight these people anymore than the German government was in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Don’t give up the fight. We don’t have to follow what occurred in 1930s Germany by looking at the causes of the rise of Fascism. It was that Fascists were selling their cause better than those who were satisfied with the status quo. We who prefer Democracy must not repeat what happened in Germany or in Hungary today. We must fight fire with fire. We must explicitly show with major marketing efforts the horrors and loss of freedom that Fascism will bring. The grass may look greener elsewhere but with a major dose of marketing Democratic “fertilizer “ we can keep our Democratic “lawn” looking greener.
I’ve been hoping and hoping these people would be in jail. They are not in jail. We have a bifurcation of the news stream that is making it possible for these people to do what they’re doing. The New York Times article makes clear that they want to take over the FCC. Not hard to read those tea leaves. 1984 will have come to the US. I think it’s time for Biden and every Democrat to start forcefully, telling the country what’s happening. At this point, the administration needs to interrupt the new stream of Fox and similar outlets.
Steven, please take your article and mail it to every member of Congress who can start speaking up and getting this news to the Fox watchers. Send it to Biden, and everyone in his administration that you have access to. You’ve simply put it all together. When the Republicans completely take over the news, all will have been lost. It will be 1984. Send it to everyone in the Biden administration. Send it to every judge and everyone and DOJ that you know. We here have little power other than to keep sending money to the right people. But that is not enough given all the cheating that the Republicans are doing. You’ve put it together. Add something about them wanting to take over the FCC and what that will do. 1/3 of our country is lost. We’ve got to wake up at least some of them up. We’ve got to get these authoritarians in jail… Now! I think Steven, adding a little more about the dangers, and sending it to everyone you possibly can is imperative. I think many of us will donate money to you to help you defray the cost of doing so.
I think the "no labels" group is also in cahoots to end democracy. That's the only reason they would try to engineer a 3rd party at this point in time. OF course, I also wouldn't be surprised if Lieberman and Huntsman were in fact, that stupid. But that this is is embedded in the entirety of the conservative apparatus is quite telling and deeply frightening.
I agree with Liz Cheney in that we must do absolutely everything we can to prevent Trump from ever getting in office again. But unlike Cheney, I would say this is beyond a political difference of opinion and competency. The right sees trump as a vehicle to seize the country for their own purposes and they see the American voter as idiotic and easily swayed to voluntarily give up rights--all the while waiving their oversized American flags on the backs of their trucks, all the while posting their memes "these colors don't bleed" and so on. Patriotism in the conservative eye is Orwellian in that it means everything opposite for the love of country.
Since many people will not go back and read 1984, I would suggest that you help people by finding the Twilight Zone episode, called “To Serve Man.” Help people get past the technology, which is decades old. Inoculate them to the dated technology before they watch it help them focus on the message. I have not watched it in a very long time, so if anyone finds out where it can be accessed, I’d appreciate letting us know.
Thank you, Steven, for calling it by its rightful name. There’s been entirely too much pussyfooting around about this, as if we’re just having a debate over appropriate means to reasonable ends. Not! It’s an existential crisis and needs to be confronted accordingly. As in yelling “FIRE!!!!!!!” Not, “what’s that glow on the horizon?” Too many in media still treat this as a slightly amped-up version of Liberal vs. Conservative politics.
Our best hope is now the legal system, which, if it works as it can and should, is impervious to the bleating of MAGA followers and the threats of Congressional Republicans. If Jack Smith indicts the conspirators, and if a D.C. jury convicts them, and if the convictions withstand the scrutiny of appeal, and Democrats prevail in the next election, then we have a chance to pull the fat out of the fire.
Hitler came to actual power because of a corrupt system and a weak old man. There were inflection points at which he and his gang might have been stopped. German society was largely educated and enlightened, but its leaders were feckless and few foresaw the danger ... until it was too late. Fewer still were brave enough to call it out.
Your clarion call is invaluable. You have a megaphone. We need thousands more like you though. Keep it up. You’ve got it just right. This is not business as usual. It’s more like showdown at the OK corral.
When I opened this article this morning, there was an enlarged trump head. I clicked on twitter and it may as well said Jivin' With trump. I skimmed the current news items on the cell phone-all about trump, McCarthy, Greene, and the rest of that bunch. (Greene's IQ, by the way, is estimated to be 80)TV news is all GOP oriented with trump's same old, same old lies at rallies although a new one has been created - I am your retribution !! For what? Lowering cost of medicine? Fixing pot holes and falling bridges? Lessening climate change that has flooded , destroyed, burnt their homes? As president, he promises to have all executive branch agencies answerable to him, and of course, all the funds to them diverted to him. He has put forward no plans that would help his followers, just whines about losing and curses those who would stop him. He could give (excuse the language)a rat's ass about his people or that over a million died from covid, but they exalt him, claim he is above Lincoln , Roosevelt. To hell with those educated liberals who think they know it all and have kept them "in their place" all these years. trump will lead the way, and his way is to be big man on the world's campus, dictate to it, prove his importance . Junior says if Daddy isn't elected in 2024, it will be the end of civilization. Shoot! Daddy couldn't even save his Taj Mahal - it went bankrupt after one year .
If Daddy is elected, it might be the end of American democracy though. Do citizens care? On twitter, I constantly put a piece about a car oil change gone bad because the franchise owner will not reply or reimburse me for garage fees, missing work. I want people to know not to go there. In a period of time, 717 people have acknowledged it. Pieces about trump and Republican cruelty and lies - same time period - 398.
Americans have romanticized fascist WW II. The fanaticism with Hitler overlooking all those lined up German troops and the accompanying pageantry of black swastikas against brilliant red; the music-Glen Miller and his death, the Andrew Sisters, Vera Lynn; movies like Casablanca, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, The Best Years of Our Lives; authors and correspondents like Hemingway, Steinbeck, Gelihorn, Ernie Pyle; movie stars like Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Audie Murphy, Lee Marvin, & who could forget Bob Hope entertaining the troops with beautiful women, Lana Turner whose picture was put on the noses of planes & Betty Grable's million dollar insured legs.
My emails consist of publishing house books that other than secrets in small towns, are about WW II, and every Democrat across the country headlining with a scary message, then when opened, just asking and asking and asking for donations.. The only reporters who are truthful are Rachael Maddow -only on Mondays - and Lawrence O'Donnell -10 PM when working people are generally going to bed. Democrat leaders need to get fired up,show up, speak out. Biden is going to have troubles over age, Hunter and mumbling. America does not need a Sieg Heil trump.
“They want power and they’ll pursue it by any means necessary to get it and keep it.”
Well then, it seems to me that the defenders of our Democracy better get to work counteracting that pursuit by any means necessary.. I will leave you with one parting remark to all those who want to protect and defend our Democracy compliments of Donald J.Trump..
“You better fight like hell or you're not going to have a country anymore.”
You have clearly spelled out what awaits us as a nation. Now it’s time wake up those who want to keep us a Democracy but have left that chore to someone else. We have tried to “sell” the accomplishments of our democracy by illuminating the benefits but that has not awakened enough momentum to insure its survival.
We must be more explicit in how we show the cruelty, the loss of freedom, the horrors that a dictatorship with a Fascist bent will bring.
Very well put sir. My undergraduate and one year of graduate study was spent studying under Dr. Helmut Haeussler at California State University Northridge. His family left Germany in the 1920s when he was a child. He served in the 82nd Airborne in WWII as an intelligence specialist and interpreter. After the war he stayed on as an interrogator and interpreter at Nuremberg for the International Military Tribunal and the subsequent trials in the American Zone. He allowed me to do a deep dive over 3 years on Weimar, the Nazi era, and the War Crimes trials. I have spent years in Germany and like you when I go to Berlin, Munich, and Nuremberg I cannot get over how far Trump and the GOP have gone in their pursuit of dictatorship. God help us if they ever get back in power, even if it is someone other than Trump. The poison of Fascism has transformed the GOP.
Sincerely,
Steve
I promised my Kentucky sister I would send her no more political information, but this article really needed to go to her -I broke my promise-sent it-
if only she and the other MAGA people read
My biggest concern is that the majority of the American people are not aware of this crisis. Their minds are on other things.
I'm concerned about that as well. I think even people who would never vote for such a beast like trump, may still believe that this is not a topic for polite conversation and don't realize the thin line of democracy is only based on the will of individual people to embrace it and follow the principles of it. As we saw under trump, that doesn't happen. It isn't just that people are afraid of MAGA voters, but also that they find all American voters a pain in the neck, including their own.
"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." My friends on GOP side do not want to discuss anything "Political".
Steven, unfortunately you are all too correct. We are all responsible for letting this happen to the extent we have been lazy and/or complacent or just plain too concerned about making it from paycheck to paycheck and day to day. Now is the time to stand our ground. We are seeing that happen in FL where parents are fighting back against censorship about what their kids are taught. We are seeing it in the work of Jack Smith, Fanni Willis, and others.
But what we really need is to speak truth to power. Call it what it is. Authoritarianism, Facism, Racism, White Nationalism, corruption, pay to play, market power and monopolizing economic control in the hands of a few (really and oligarchy like Russia). A pithy way to say it is the Russification or Putinization of America.
I’ve followed HCR and many others for years now and all my life have read books about Nazi Germany & WWII. This whole fascist push is incredibly scary. A couple weeks back, Trump said “I am your retribution.” There couldn’t be a clearer fascist statement, to my way of thinking. And we’re seeing that playing out in the GOP led House. It will only get worse wherever Rs have the lead. The task ahead of us is huge but absolutely essential for the survival of our democracy. Because if democracy doesn’t prevail, something else will. Thank you for this article today!
At this point the positions they are taking are so clear. This is a time to speak to our children and grandchildren to educate them on the dangers and for us to redouble our efforts to support those who understand what’s at stake.
We can also call it group narcissism exploited by malignant narcissists such as Trump, and so many of the GOP fellow travelers. It is a destructionist and nihilistic view of the world where all that matters is who wields power over the rest of us regardless of the economic and social fabric of society is turned into a smoldering pile of ruble from which nothing can be built.
On the other hand, what Biden seeks to do is build, to provide an economic and social bases where we all can succeed, thrive, pursue happiness as envisioned by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and truly be free to make decisions to chart our own course as individuals and as a country. I’m this vision of the future people are not led by the dictator and his/her minions by fear, we the people lead by what we choose and allow others to choose. It is. It about narcissism, but it is about openness to new experiences, cultures, education and learning, understanding our past, innovating new technology or new ways of living that benefits more than just the single individual...but all of us and the environment in which we live.
Steven I sound like a broken record but I firmly believe that those of us that care to "Save" our Democracy will do whatever it takes to secure the objective of a Super Majority come November 2024!
Upon that completion, we will
Been seeing this coming for so long. I’ve been trying to convince my family to move out of the country for years and just can’t get them there. I can’t leave without them. These authoritarians almost succeeded with the 2020 election, with all the gerrymandering, all the cheating, the multiprong effort to put Trump back in charge. they should all have been in jail immediately. Our system of government is just not designed to fight these people anymore than the German government was in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Don’t give up the fight. We don’t have to follow what occurred in 1930s Germany by looking at the causes of the rise of Fascism. It was that Fascists were selling their cause better than those who were satisfied with the status quo. We who prefer Democracy must not repeat what happened in Germany or in Hungary today. We must fight fire with fire. We must explicitly show with major marketing efforts the horrors and loss of freedom that Fascism will bring. The grass may look greener elsewhere but with a major dose of marketing Democratic “fertilizer “ we can keep our Democratic “lawn” looking greener.
I’ve been hoping and hoping these people would be in jail. They are not in jail. We have a bifurcation of the news stream that is making it possible for these people to do what they’re doing. The New York Times article makes clear that they want to take over the FCC. Not hard to read those tea leaves. 1984 will have come to the US. I think it’s time for Biden and every Democrat to start forcefully, telling the country what’s happening. At this point, the administration needs to interrupt the new stream of Fox and similar outlets.
Yes, Karen .
Steven, please take your article and mail it to every member of Congress who can start speaking up and getting this news to the Fox watchers. Send it to Biden, and everyone in his administration that you have access to. You’ve simply put it all together. When the Republicans completely take over the news, all will have been lost. It will be 1984. Send it to everyone in the Biden administration. Send it to every judge and everyone and DOJ that you know. We here have little power other than to keep sending money to the right people. But that is not enough given all the cheating that the Republicans are doing. You’ve put it together. Add something about them wanting to take over the FCC and what that will do. 1/3 of our country is lost. We’ve got to wake up at least some of them up. We’ve got to get these authoritarians in jail… Now! I think Steven, adding a little more about the dangers, and sending it to everyone you possibly can is imperative. I think many of us will donate money to you to help you defray the cost of doing so.
I think the "no labels" group is also in cahoots to end democracy. That's the only reason they would try to engineer a 3rd party at this point in time. OF course, I also wouldn't be surprised if Lieberman and Huntsman were in fact, that stupid. But that this is is embedded in the entirety of the conservative apparatus is quite telling and deeply frightening.
I agree with Liz Cheney in that we must do absolutely everything we can to prevent Trump from ever getting in office again. But unlike Cheney, I would say this is beyond a political difference of opinion and competency. The right sees trump as a vehicle to seize the country for their own purposes and they see the American voter as idiotic and easily swayed to voluntarily give up rights--all the while waiving their oversized American flags on the backs of their trucks, all the while posting their memes "these colors don't bleed" and so on. Patriotism in the conservative eye is Orwellian in that it means everything opposite for the love of country.
I've also noticed that with displaying the US flag. It has been totally co-opted.
Since many people will not go back and read 1984, I would suggest that you help people by finding the Twilight Zone episode, called “To Serve Man.” Help people get past the technology, which is decades old. Inoculate them to the dated technology before they watch it help them focus on the message. I have not watched it in a very long time, so if anyone finds out where it can be accessed, I’d appreciate letting us know.
It's available (with ads) for free on Freevee via Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.1aa9f710-bd68-c4d9-3670-44d2bbcfa4ef?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb
Thank you !!!!!
Thank you, Steven, for calling it by its rightful name. There’s been entirely too much pussyfooting around about this, as if we’re just having a debate over appropriate means to reasonable ends. Not! It’s an existential crisis and needs to be confronted accordingly. As in yelling “FIRE!!!!!!!” Not, “what’s that glow on the horizon?” Too many in media still treat this as a slightly amped-up version of Liberal vs. Conservative politics.
Our best hope is now the legal system, which, if it works as it can and should, is impervious to the bleating of MAGA followers and the threats of Congressional Republicans. If Jack Smith indicts the conspirators, and if a D.C. jury convicts them, and if the convictions withstand the scrutiny of appeal, and Democrats prevail in the next election, then we have a chance to pull the fat out of the fire.
Hitler came to actual power because of a corrupt system and a weak old man. There were inflection points at which he and his gang might have been stopped. German society was largely educated and enlightened, but its leaders were feckless and few foresaw the danger ... until it was too late. Fewer still were brave enough to call it out.
Your clarion call is invaluable. You have a megaphone. We need thousands more like you though. Keep it up. You’ve got it just right. This is not business as usual. It’s more like showdown at the OK corral.
When I opened this article this morning, there was an enlarged trump head. I clicked on twitter and it may as well said Jivin' With trump. I skimmed the current news items on the cell phone-all about trump, McCarthy, Greene, and the rest of that bunch. (Greene's IQ, by the way, is estimated to be 80)TV news is all GOP oriented with trump's same old, same old lies at rallies although a new one has been created - I am your retribution !! For what? Lowering cost of medicine? Fixing pot holes and falling bridges? Lessening climate change that has flooded , destroyed, burnt their homes? As president, he promises to have all executive branch agencies answerable to him, and of course, all the funds to them diverted to him. He has put forward no plans that would help his followers, just whines about losing and curses those who would stop him. He could give (excuse the language)a rat's ass about his people or that over a million died from covid, but they exalt him, claim he is above Lincoln , Roosevelt. To hell with those educated liberals who think they know it all and have kept them "in their place" all these years. trump will lead the way, and his way is to be big man on the world's campus, dictate to it, prove his importance . Junior says if Daddy isn't elected in 2024, it will be the end of civilization. Shoot! Daddy couldn't even save his Taj Mahal - it went bankrupt after one year .
If Daddy is elected, it might be the end of American democracy though. Do citizens care? On twitter, I constantly put a piece about a car oil change gone bad because the franchise owner will not reply or reimburse me for garage fees, missing work. I want people to know not to go there. In a period of time, 717 people have acknowledged it. Pieces about trump and Republican cruelty and lies - same time period - 398.
Americans have romanticized fascist WW II. The fanaticism with Hitler overlooking all those lined up German troops and the accompanying pageantry of black swastikas against brilliant red; the music-Glen Miller and his death, the Andrew Sisters, Vera Lynn; movies like Casablanca, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, The Best Years of Our Lives; authors and correspondents like Hemingway, Steinbeck, Gelihorn, Ernie Pyle; movie stars like Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Audie Murphy, Lee Marvin, & who could forget Bob Hope entertaining the troops with beautiful women, Lana Turner whose picture was put on the noses of planes & Betty Grable's million dollar insured legs.
My emails consist of publishing house books that other than secrets in small towns, are about WW II, and every Democrat across the country headlining with a scary message, then when opened, just asking and asking and asking for donations.. The only reporters who are truthful are Rachael Maddow -only on Mondays - and Lawrence O'Donnell -10 PM when working people are generally going to bed. Democrat leaders need to get fired up,show up, speak out. Biden is going to have troubles over age, Hunter and mumbling. America does not need a Sieg Heil trump.
“They want power and they’ll pursue it by any means necessary to get it and keep it.”
Well then, it seems to me that the defenders of our Democracy better get to work counteracting that pursuit by any means necessary.. I will leave you with one parting remark to all those who want to protect and defend our Democracy compliments of Donald J.Trump..
“You better fight like hell or you're not going to have a country anymore.”