While dark forces aim to further divide and degrade us with increasingly ruthless immigration policy, let's keep in mind that America's mosaic is its greatest strength
We are all immigrants. Native Americans were here at the beginning; and immigrants arrived in a series of waves over the history of our country. Immigrants built our country with the skills and energy and hope they brought from their countries. We must always remember that we are all immigrants; and we must remember to respect each new wave of immigrants that comes here to positively contribute to our country.
"We’re Americans, with a capital ‘A’, huh?....That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We’re the underdog. We’re mutts!...We’re mutants....[But] We’ve been kicking ass for 200 years! We’re ten and one!"
I think that's probably the best description of what being an American is—we're a bunch of mutts and mutants who somehow managed to put together a system of government that stands as a model for every new nation, and is flexible enough that we can accept having been wrong and, sometimes, even make it right. That's what Trump and his Republicans are trying to take away from us—and what we're fighting for.
Fuck Trump—if he wanted racial purity, his family should've stayed in Germany.
Steven Beschloss ..we are the only country that has been blessed to have immigrants from every country in the world live and work together as Americans…blessed
I don’t know if you’ve ever visited Canada. I can assure you that my country has also been blessed with immigrants from every country in the world and under the leadership of our current Prime Minister, Canada will continue to accept not only legal immigrants, but also refugees from war-torn countries.
Thank you Marsha, although you haven’t responded to my comment. We don’t only accept refugees. Both sets of grandchildren come from a family where one or both were born abroad, and they weren’t refugees, but having come through the immigration process. One set of grandparents have contributed financially to endowments both to hospitals and universities, responsible for the major renovations of our Parliamentary Library and other important buildings in our capital, as well as having significant influence in the arts and humanities. Carole Ann
Carol Ann thought I had responded don’t know what happened…you response was exceptional and I’m greatly appreciative of knowing all the Canadians are doing I’m proud of Canada and love your country the people the food and the culture!
I wrote this in response to Carole Ann's comment on your post: "I don't see where you mentioned grandchildren or financial endowments in your previous comment. I'd love to learn more!"
My response dealt with an assumption that 🇨🇦 only admitted refugees. I set the record straight on the two issues raised and provided information to make a point about people who are dear to me who came to Canada through our regular immigration process. We’re not just about snow, eskimos, and north winds blowing cold weather on the US.
I just wish there were a path for me to move there. Because I hadn't known that I couldn't be a full-time resident after retiring, I waited too long to leave. Gorgeous country; I fell in love with your stunning capitol!
I wish I could be of help Linda. Although not ideal, you can partake in the US and Canada’s favorable visitor status. Canadian snowbirds are the quintessential example - 6 months less a day in the US in the fall & winter and the next 6 enjoying our long spring and summer hours of sunshine. We were lucky that we could afford the luxury of a 2nd home in Florida, and did so for 10 years. Or you can be like my 2nd cousin who never knew she had a Canadian connection until we discovered each other through a DNA match; we share an American great-grandfather!
Thank you! I have decided that 6 months is the best I can do and will begin the search to find somewhere to rent! Just cannot deal with the heat here anymore....
Trump does not have the capacity to celebrate anyone other than himself. His "plan" reads like a Nazi or a Stalinist Manifesto. The man is co nsumed with hate; vile, vulgar and vicious. Yet, people continue to follow him. To support him. To celebrate him (including segments of the media!). His putrid commentary for Veterans' Day is a slap in the face of the five Forces, our three Branches of government and the people at large. Trump will destroy everything in his midst, if elected.
I used to believe that if only every American teenager could spend a year abroad it would contribute to a more nuanced electorate conscious of the world around us.
But I would suggest now that even one high school year between our own cities would help heal us.
Wonderful idea, but learning about other countries’ history and geography from the time students are in middle school is a start. I’m not sure that it is taught in the US. When I was in middle school, our curriculum included the geography, history and flags of European and Asian countries. We had to learn the names of the capitals of all of them. Because the USA was our only neighbor, we also had to learn the names and capitals of every State and basic knowledge of your geography. Up until the Ottawa Senators became a franchise of the NHL, most Americans that I met on my yearly treks to the US, did not know that Ottawa was Canada’s capital. Things have changed here, in that the curriculum has changed to become much more focused on Canada, to the detriment of the knowledge of other countries. It is a pity.
I agree it’s a pity, constrictive and deliberately limiting. I grew up in an era just off the edge of WW2, a much different world than my grandchildren inhabit. There were not only different religions and nationalities, but if they didn’t live on my block they were in my neighborhood and absolutely in my school. History was immersive and international, native Americans were celebrated although the history distorted.
Diversity of thought, experience, culture, religion, make the fabric of our country stronger. Make our economy stronger. My father was born into a Polish family, the family that had emigrated from a Poland that did not exist on a map and had been partitioned by three empires. He grew up in a neighborhood with African Americans who emigrated north for auto and other industry and with other European (Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Flemish) immigrants. Polish, Yiddish, and English were all spoken at home in some ways (he never bothered to learn Polish or Yddish so it was not passed down), was a “minority” in a majority African American high school.
Steven, this is about a man born in 1942! In South Bend, IN! This is not the “coastal elite” as some would have us believe, but normal, everyday, blue collar, middle america! Those people built the foundation of this country, it’s cars, the steel, and other manufacturing that places the economy well above those in the world in the post war period!
My dad as an electronics engineer, with so many other thousands of people worked collectively and literally put a man on the moon!
What we all came for was opportunity and to get a care shot at success, however we wish to define it! He did that. My dad was an unabashed Democrat...Roosevelt type democrat! Help people not kick them when they are down.
So true. My dad’s Polish family came to Grand Rapids, MI in 1889 from the Austrian Partition. Dad’s father was born in GR although some of his siblings were born in Poland. His dad was the only one who married outside the Polish community - a bride whose mother was French Canadian and her father, a Northwestern European mystery.
You can add Dutch and French Canadian to the community mix in GR in those days. Nearby Holland MI brags it has the only authentic Dutch windmill still operating. The de Zwaan windmill, is supposed to be the last mill allowed to be transported from the Netherlands. It is of course a tourist attraction and grinds locally-grown grain into flour that is sold to visitors and local businesses.
Your consistency in illuminating the dark clouds on our horizon is a wake up call that needs to be spread amongst our population like a new vaccine to wipe out what is truly a menacing vermin. We, your supporters, must individually take your message to within our circles of influence.
Your message must also reach those living paycheck to paycheck, who blame Biden for the high cost of living now, compared to the time of Trump’s presidency. This great portion of our population doesn’t want to hear about the causes of our inflation, they need to hear about what is being done to improve their standard of living as well as how much worse their lives and children’s lives will be under a Trump Fascistic government as prejudiced against minorities like never before in our lifetime.
trump takes a page out of Mein Kampf retoric, calls for setting up detention (concentration) camps for illegal immigrants (and most likely, his professed enemies) banning certain nationalities or religions from entering the country, building the wall, and no doubt would deploy the military's aid in so doing. To quote trump on Putin: We have a very good relationship.genius, savvy, very smart. Russia has 700 penal colonies with 1/2 million prisoners. On Xi Jinping: Top of the line; you never met anybody smarter.A brilliant man. China has mass internment, indoctrination camps holding over 2 million people. On Kim Jong Un: Very open and honorable. Really smart. I got along great with him. North Korea: 6 political prisons, 35 reeducation camps. 150-200,000 prisoners.
In all or them, slave labor, torture, starvation.
America, the land of refugees : Albert Einstein-Germany; Marc Chagall-Russia; George Soros-Hungary; Madeleine Albright-Czechoslovakia; Elie Wiesel-Romnia; Sergey Brin (Google) - Russia; Billy Wilder-Poland, Isabel Allende-Venezuela; Irving Berlin-Belarus; Ayn Rand-Russia; Andrew Carnegie-Scotland; Iman-Kenya; Trevor Noah-South Africa; and all the other nameless, not famous people who looked to a life of happiness and reward in these United States.
Lest we forget and feel holier than thou, remember 75 incarceration sites with 100,000+ Japanese Americans during WW II and still to this day, Guantanamo , 30 still detained out of 780 original prisoners. Also the cruelty of slavery,lynchings, KKK,, forced indoctrination of Indian children, waterboarding, continuous loud music when Noriega a prisoner, horrendous shooting by police of innocent blacks, elder abuse, poverty, homelessness, even bullying by children -trump the epitome of that, just a bigger body.
Sadly, no one is innocent.Under trump two, rule would be ruthless, heartless sadism.
It is a Hopeful sign for me to continue to read your fine posts, Steven, and the follow up, respectful, comments from your subscribers. I learn a great deal from all of you.
I confess if it were not for the “shock” of PFFT (President Flim-Flam Tr___), I wouldn’t be so inclined to get a better understanding of the systemic issues that made this phenomenon realized. I continue to be informed, enlightened, and, certainly appreciate the diversity noted here. Thank You.
Nov 13, 2023·edited Nov 14, 2023Liked by Steven Beschloss
As the daughter of immigrants (Latvian, fleeing Soviet occupation) I am constantly appalled by Trump's and his allies's treatment of those seeking refuge and a better life in America. My parents, just kids at the time, arrived on separate ships, but both recounted with awe and wonder their first sighting of the Statue of Liberty—the personification of America welcoming them with open arms.
Emma Lazarus' sonnet engraved on the Statue of Liberty embodies its meaning for every immigrant coming to America, a nation built by immigrants:
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
America is a palpable beacon of hope, freedom, and opportunity for those seeking a new life. Lazarus echoes the values upon which our country was formed, upon which we pride ourselves as having shaped our identity as a nation.
But Trump and his xenophobic, racist lackey Stephen Miller rejoice in trying to expunge our country of these values and our uniquely American identity. They are not alone; some are active participants in Trump's plans, others complicit in their silence. The GOP remains quiet as Trump fulminates about "rooting out the vermin" from America. Liz Cheney confronted RNC chair Ronna McDaniel for refusing to condemn Trump's fascist road-map for his presidency if by some horror he's reelected. Cheney wrote on Twitter: "When @GOPChairwoman refuses to condemn the GOP’s leading candidate for using the same Nazi propaganda that mobilized 1930s-40s Germany to evil, it’s fair to assume she’s collaborating."
Make no mistake, Trump is not alone in his vision of an America culled of diversity. Many Republicans, terrified that by 2045 Whites are projected to become a minority in the United States, are invoking Hitlerite rhetoric and tactics. Only one percent of Republican voters are Black, so why should the GOP worry about them? "Rev" Al Sharpton today on MSNBC stated unequivocally his belief that the "vermin" Trump is intent to "root out" are people of color.
Steven Beschloss in his superb article lays out the danger in stark terms:
"The fact that these plotters are so brazen about their ruthless program a year before the election makes plain their pride, their determination to rile up Trump’s cultist base and their desire to normalize their brutal intentions with a disbelieving majority. Once normalized, of course, the power of pushback is dulled."
The GOP has not pushed back against Trump since his election as president in 2016. The rest of us watched in horror as Trump's egregious behaviors were, indeed, normalized. Obama was vilified for wearing a tan suit; meanwhile, Trump is convicted of sexual assault, indicted on 91 felony charges, and the Republican Party gives a collective shrug of its shoulders. Those of us who find Trump's beliefs, plans, values (or lack thereof) terrifying, must provide the pushback, not only in our votes but our aspirations for what we can accomplish if we all become engaged in our civic life. We must start by ensuring Trump never ascends to the presidency again. This time he intends it be his coronation.
Steven, it is mind-boggling that the entire R Party is “sworn” to silence. In our present state, silence is not golden, it is horrendous! Does anyone scratch their heads and wonder if their lives have been threatened if they go against their fascist leader? Romney practically acknowledged that in excerpts I read, regarding his book. Speaking of fascists, that is what the R party has become with the likes of MGT, Boebert, Gaetz, etc.
Hakeem Jeffries is our future. He embodies everything that is right about our country. We have laws in America that make us great with all of the wonderful immigrants who came here to escape poverty, death, famine, and discrimination. Thanks for being the small light at the end of tunnel.
Those of us who support immigration and racial equality need to concentrate on defeating Trump and Trumpism over the next few years. They are a minority, but our system of government gives minorities undue influence and power. We need a massive increase in Democratic voting in 2024 to soundly defeat Trump and his supporters in Congress.
Nov 14, 2023·edited Nov 15, 2023Liked by Steven Beschloss
It no longer matters if he suffers from a clinical mental disorder, his words are getting more and more sinister and dangerous. We must remember Germany under Hitler and stop it before it gets that far. While I don’t like painting a particular group of people with a broad brush, I have to in this instance. All republicans who do not reject him must be painted with the same brush we paint him with. They bare responsibility for what is happening as much as he does.
Nov 14, 2023·edited Nov 14, 2023Liked by Steven Beschloss
While I agree the intention is to target people of color, I also believe there are some very specific targets on the ‘list’ and a broad strategy. If there is a next time, DJT won’t be ‘winging it.’ The purpose of Project 2025 is to have the game plan, the tools, the training and the database of 25,000 vetted loyalists ready. They learned where the obstacles to success are and that they must be removed.
We are already living with pieces of the authoritarian playbook. Protect Democracy calls it “salami tactics.” Slicing slivers of democracy away a little at a time. The disinformation, undermining of trust in institutions and elections, normalizing of violent rhetoric, violence, organized intimidation and legislated indoctrination in schools. Now we see bogus attempts to impeach and/or investigate people within the government and prosecutors. Like all authoritarians his administration would need to target the justice system, activists, protestors. The Biden family makes the list. I wouldn’t rule out HRC. Obama lives in his head. Leadership qualities are a threat.
He and other candidates favor the Duterte style of justice.
The group that animates him the most when he talks about it, according to a journalist who interviewed him, are “RINOs”. Republicans who done him wrong - at least in his eyes. Like Barr, Ty Cobb (his former attorney) and others who he views as disloyal. There are the generals who stymied his actions like Milley and Kelly. All people he has named publicly as targets. There is fear he will remove the high ranking military leaders and replace them with loyalists. (Coup proofing or in this case, resistance proofing)
We are all immigrants. Native Americans were here at the beginning; and immigrants arrived in a series of waves over the history of our country. Immigrants built our country with the skills and energy and hope they brought from their countries. We must always remember that we are all immigrants; and we must remember to respect each new wave of immigrants that comes here to positively contribute to our country.
Bill Murray put it best in the movie STRIPES:
"We’re Americans, with a capital ‘A’, huh?....That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We’re the underdog. We’re mutts!...We’re mutants....[But] We’ve been kicking ass for 200 years! We’re ten and one!"
I think that's probably the best description of what being an American is—we're a bunch of mutts and mutants who somehow managed to put together a system of government that stands as a model for every new nation, and is flexible enough that we can accept having been wrong and, sometimes, even make it right. That's what Trump and his Republicans are trying to take away from us—and what we're fighting for.
Fuck Trump—if he wanted racial purity, his family should've stayed in Germany.
Steven Beschloss ..we are the only country that has been blessed to have immigrants from every country in the world live and work together as Americans…blessed
Melding together respectfully! Marsha
I don’t know if you’ve ever visited Canada. I can assure you that my country has also been blessed with immigrants from every country in the world and under the leadership of our current Prime Minister, Canada will continue to accept not only legal immigrants, but also refugees from war-torn countries.
Carole love Canada and Canadians
Yes I’m aware of your warmth and kindness as a welcome to refugees
Bless Canada heartfelt, Marsha 🌹
Thank you Marsha, although you haven’t responded to my comment. We don’t only accept refugees. Both sets of grandchildren come from a family where one or both were born abroad, and they weren’t refugees, but having come through the immigration process. One set of grandparents have contributed financially to endowments both to hospitals and universities, responsible for the major renovations of our Parliamentary Library and other important buildings in our capital, as well as having significant influence in the arts and humanities. Carole Ann
Carol Ann thought I had responded don’t know what happened…you response was exceptional and I’m greatly appreciative of knowing all the Canadians are doing I’m proud of Canada and love your country the people the food and the culture!
All the beautiful accomplishments!
Arts, humanities , universities
KUDOS. Hugs Marsha
I wrote this in response to Carole Ann's comment on your post: "I don't see where you mentioned grandchildren or financial endowments in your previous comment. I'd love to learn more!"
I don't see where you mentioned grandchildren or financial endowments in your previous comment. I'd love to learn more!
My response dealt with an assumption that 🇨🇦 only admitted refugees. I set the record straight on the two issues raised and provided information to make a point about people who are dear to me who came to Canada through our regular immigration process. We’re not just about snow, eskimos, and north winds blowing cold weather on the US.
I just wish there were a path for me to move there. Because I hadn't known that I couldn't be a full-time resident after retiring, I waited too long to leave. Gorgeous country; I fell in love with your stunning capitol!
I wish I could be of help Linda. Although not ideal, you can partake in the US and Canada’s favorable visitor status. Canadian snowbirds are the quintessential example - 6 months less a day in the US in the fall & winter and the next 6 enjoying our long spring and summer hours of sunshine. We were lucky that we could afford the luxury of a 2nd home in Florida, and did so for 10 years. Or you can be like my 2nd cousin who never knew she had a Canadian connection until we discovered each other through a DNA match; we share an American great-grandfather!
Thank you! I have decided that 6 months is the best I can do and will begin the search to find somewhere to rent! Just cannot deal with the heat here anymore....
Good luck.
Trump does not have the capacity to celebrate anyone other than himself. His "plan" reads like a Nazi or a Stalinist Manifesto. The man is co nsumed with hate; vile, vulgar and vicious. Yet, people continue to follow him. To support him. To celebrate him (including segments of the media!). His putrid commentary for Veterans' Day is a slap in the face of the five Forces, our three Branches of government and the people at large. Trump will destroy everything in his midst, if elected.
I used to believe that if only every American teenager could spend a year abroad it would contribute to a more nuanced electorate conscious of the world around us.
But I would suggest now that even one high school year between our own cities would help heal us.
Wonderful idea, but learning about other countries’ history and geography from the time students are in middle school is a start. I’m not sure that it is taught in the US. When I was in middle school, our curriculum included the geography, history and flags of European and Asian countries. We had to learn the names of the capitals of all of them. Because the USA was our only neighbor, we also had to learn the names and capitals of every State and basic knowledge of your geography. Up until the Ottawa Senators became a franchise of the NHL, most Americans that I met on my yearly treks to the US, did not know that Ottawa was Canada’s capital. Things have changed here, in that the curriculum has changed to become much more focused on Canada, to the detriment of the knowledge of other countries. It is a pity.
I agree it’s a pity, constrictive and deliberately limiting. I grew up in an era just off the edge of WW2, a much different world than my grandchildren inhabit. There were not only different religions and nationalities, but if they didn’t live on my block they were in my neighborhood and absolutely in my school. History was immersive and international, native Americans were celebrated although the history distorted.
Diversity of thought, experience, culture, religion, make the fabric of our country stronger. Make our economy stronger. My father was born into a Polish family, the family that had emigrated from a Poland that did not exist on a map and had been partitioned by three empires. He grew up in a neighborhood with African Americans who emigrated north for auto and other industry and with other European (Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Flemish) immigrants. Polish, Yiddish, and English were all spoken at home in some ways (he never bothered to learn Polish or Yddish so it was not passed down), was a “minority” in a majority African American high school.
Steven, this is about a man born in 1942! In South Bend, IN! This is not the “coastal elite” as some would have us believe, but normal, everyday, blue collar, middle america! Those people built the foundation of this country, it’s cars, the steel, and other manufacturing that places the economy well above those in the world in the post war period!
My dad as an electronics engineer, with so many other thousands of people worked collectively and literally put a man on the moon!
What we all came for was opportunity and to get a care shot at success, however we wish to define it! He did that. My dad was an unabashed Democrat...Roosevelt type democrat! Help people not kick them when they are down.
He will be 81 next month. We can learn a lot from
His experience and so many like him.
So true. My dad’s Polish family came to Grand Rapids, MI in 1889 from the Austrian Partition. Dad’s father was born in GR although some of his siblings were born in Poland. His dad was the only one who married outside the Polish community - a bride whose mother was French Canadian and her father, a Northwestern European mystery.
You can add Dutch and French Canadian to the community mix in GR in those days. Nearby Holland MI brags it has the only authentic Dutch windmill still operating. The de Zwaan windmill, is supposed to be the last mill allowed to be transported from the Netherlands. It is of course a tourist attraction and grinds locally-grown grain into flour that is sold to visitors and local businesses.
Thank you for sharing the inspiring words of Hakeem Jeffries. Rhetoric still matters. Words still matter. Your words matter. Thank you for your posts!
Thank you, Aurore.
Your consistency in illuminating the dark clouds on our horizon is a wake up call that needs to be spread amongst our population like a new vaccine to wipe out what is truly a menacing vermin. We, your supporters, must individually take your message to within our circles of influence.
Your message must also reach those living paycheck to paycheck, who blame Biden for the high cost of living now, compared to the time of Trump’s presidency. This great portion of our population doesn’t want to hear about the causes of our inflation, they need to hear about what is being done to improve their standard of living as well as how much worse their lives and children’s lives will be under a Trump Fascistic government as prejudiced against minorities like never before in our lifetime.
I can imagine articulating what that "much worse" would be like under Trump fascism. That would be heavy reading...
What we need is someone , possibly you, to succinctly summarize Mein Kampf
trump takes a page out of Mein Kampf retoric, calls for setting up detention (concentration) camps for illegal immigrants (and most likely, his professed enemies) banning certain nationalities or religions from entering the country, building the wall, and no doubt would deploy the military's aid in so doing. To quote trump on Putin: We have a very good relationship.genius, savvy, very smart. Russia has 700 penal colonies with 1/2 million prisoners. On Xi Jinping: Top of the line; you never met anybody smarter.A brilliant man. China has mass internment, indoctrination camps holding over 2 million people. On Kim Jong Un: Very open and honorable. Really smart. I got along great with him. North Korea: 6 political prisons, 35 reeducation camps. 150-200,000 prisoners.
In all or them, slave labor, torture, starvation.
America, the land of refugees : Albert Einstein-Germany; Marc Chagall-Russia; George Soros-Hungary; Madeleine Albright-Czechoslovakia; Elie Wiesel-Romnia; Sergey Brin (Google) - Russia; Billy Wilder-Poland, Isabel Allende-Venezuela; Irving Berlin-Belarus; Ayn Rand-Russia; Andrew Carnegie-Scotland; Iman-Kenya; Trevor Noah-South Africa; and all the other nameless, not famous people who looked to a life of happiness and reward in these United States.
Lest we forget and feel holier than thou, remember 75 incarceration sites with 100,000+ Japanese Americans during WW II and still to this day, Guantanamo , 30 still detained out of 780 original prisoners. Also the cruelty of slavery,lynchings, KKK,, forced indoctrination of Indian children, waterboarding, continuous loud music when Noriega a prisoner, horrendous shooting by police of innocent blacks, elder abuse, poverty, homelessness, even bullying by children -trump the epitome of that, just a bigger body.
Sadly, no one is innocent.Under trump two, rule would be ruthless, heartless sadism.
It is a Hopeful sign for me to continue to read your fine posts, Steven, and the follow up, respectful, comments from your subscribers. I learn a great deal from all of you.
I confess if it were not for the “shock” of PFFT (President Flim-Flam Tr___), I wouldn’t be so inclined to get a better understanding of the systemic issues that made this phenomenon realized. I continue to be informed, enlightened, and, certainly appreciate the diversity noted here. Thank You.
Thank you.
As the daughter of immigrants (Latvian, fleeing Soviet occupation) I am constantly appalled by Trump's and his allies's treatment of those seeking refuge and a better life in America. My parents, just kids at the time, arrived on separate ships, but both recounted with awe and wonder their first sighting of the Statue of Liberty—the personification of America welcoming them with open arms.
Emma Lazarus' sonnet engraved on the Statue of Liberty embodies its meaning for every immigrant coming to America, a nation built by immigrants:
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
America is a palpable beacon of hope, freedom, and opportunity for those seeking a new life. Lazarus echoes the values upon which our country was formed, upon which we pride ourselves as having shaped our identity as a nation.
But Trump and his xenophobic, racist lackey Stephen Miller rejoice in trying to expunge our country of these values and our uniquely American identity. They are not alone; some are active participants in Trump's plans, others complicit in their silence. The GOP remains quiet as Trump fulminates about "rooting out the vermin" from America. Liz Cheney confronted RNC chair Ronna McDaniel for refusing to condemn Trump's fascist road-map for his presidency if by some horror he's reelected. Cheney wrote on Twitter: "When @GOPChairwoman refuses to condemn the GOP’s leading candidate for using the same Nazi propaganda that mobilized 1930s-40s Germany to evil, it’s fair to assume she’s collaborating."
Make no mistake, Trump is not alone in his vision of an America culled of diversity. Many Republicans, terrified that by 2045 Whites are projected to become a minority in the United States, are invoking Hitlerite rhetoric and tactics. Only one percent of Republican voters are Black, so why should the GOP worry about them? "Rev" Al Sharpton today on MSNBC stated unequivocally his belief that the "vermin" Trump is intent to "root out" are people of color.
Steven Beschloss in his superb article lays out the danger in stark terms:
"The fact that these plotters are so brazen about their ruthless program a year before the election makes plain their pride, their determination to rile up Trump’s cultist base and their desire to normalize their brutal intentions with a disbelieving majority. Once normalized, of course, the power of pushback is dulled."
The GOP has not pushed back against Trump since his election as president in 2016. The rest of us watched in horror as Trump's egregious behaviors were, indeed, normalized. Obama was vilified for wearing a tan suit; meanwhile, Trump is convicted of sexual assault, indicted on 91 felony charges, and the Republican Party gives a collective shrug of its shoulders. Those of us who find Trump's beliefs, plans, values (or lack thereof) terrifying, must provide the pushback, not only in our votes but our aspirations for what we can accomplish if we all become engaged in our civic life. We must start by ensuring Trump never ascends to the presidency again. This time he intends it be his coronation.
Thank you for your thoughtful observations, Silvija. This outcome is far from settled.
Steven, it is mind-boggling that the entire R Party is “sworn” to silence. In our present state, silence is not golden, it is horrendous! Does anyone scratch their heads and wonder if their lives have been threatened if they go against their fascist leader? Romney practically acknowledged that in excerpts I read, regarding his book. Speaking of fascists, that is what the R party has become with the likes of MGT, Boebert, Gaetz, etc.
Hakeem Jeffries is our future. He embodies everything that is right about our country. We have laws in America that make us great with all of the wonderful immigrants who came here to escape poverty, death, famine, and discrimination. Thanks for being the small light at the end of tunnel.
Thank you, Marlene.
I absolutely envision a president Jefferies
Someday, yes!
Those of us who support immigration and racial equality need to concentrate on defeating Trump and Trumpism over the next few years. They are a minority, but our system of government gives minorities undue influence and power. We need a massive increase in Democratic voting in 2024 to soundly defeat Trump and his supporters in Congress.
Exactly.
It no longer matters if he suffers from a clinical mental disorder, his words are getting more and more sinister and dangerous. We must remember Germany under Hitler and stop it before it gets that far. While I don’t like painting a particular group of people with a broad brush, I have to in this instance. All republicans who do not reject him must be painted with the same brush we paint him with. They bare responsibility for what is happening as much as he does.
While I agree the intention is to target people of color, I also believe there are some very specific targets on the ‘list’ and a broad strategy. If there is a next time, DJT won’t be ‘winging it.’ The purpose of Project 2025 is to have the game plan, the tools, the training and the database of 25,000 vetted loyalists ready. They learned where the obstacles to success are and that they must be removed.
We are already living with pieces of the authoritarian playbook. Protect Democracy calls it “salami tactics.” Slicing slivers of democracy away a little at a time. The disinformation, undermining of trust in institutions and elections, normalizing of violent rhetoric, violence, organized intimidation and legislated indoctrination in schools. Now we see bogus attempts to impeach and/or investigate people within the government and prosecutors. Like all authoritarians his administration would need to target the justice system, activists, protestors. The Biden family makes the list. I wouldn’t rule out HRC. Obama lives in his head. Leadership qualities are a threat.
He and other candidates favor the Duterte style of justice.
The group that animates him the most when he talks about it, according to a journalist who interviewed him, are “RINOs”. Republicans who done him wrong - at least in his eyes. Like Barr, Ty Cobb (his former attorney) and others who he views as disloyal. There are the generals who stymied his actions like Milley and Kelly. All people he has named publicly as targets. There is fear he will remove the high ranking military leaders and replace them with loyalists. (Coup proofing or in this case, resistance proofing)
We must not forget the media. He did a small version in the WH. 2019 a secret database of journalists was leaked. It was used to target journalists who were monitored, detained at the southern border & interrogated. The ACLU filed a case over it. DJT has a longingly spoken about controlling the media and making it easier to sue them. https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/the-u-s-government-tracked-detained-and-interrogated-journalists-were-suing
We are in dire straits while people focus on the price of gasoline.
E pluribus unum -- the original motto of our nation
A clarion call to celebrate our diversity while at the same time, be watchful for those who want to take that diversity away.
Thank you, David.