Comments by "wily wascal" (@wilywascal2024) on "SE Cupp: Out of ideas, Republicans choose chaos" video.
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"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" ~ Walt Kelly
"The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~ Robespierre
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire
"There can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." ~Abraham Lincoln
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence." ~ Charles Bukowski
"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts." ~ Bernard Baruch, quoted in 1946 AP article.
“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”
~ Mark Twain
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” ~ James A. Baldwin
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." ~ Isaac Asimov
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, 1875
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” ~ Typically misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, the original source of this quote is unknown, but likely derived from labor activist Eugene V. Debs 1917 quote, "Every robber or oppressor in history has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both."
Before World War II, Charles Lindbergh typified American heroism with his daring flights, including the first solo transatlantic flight, and his celebration of new technology. He parlayed his fame and heroic stature into a leading role in the America First movement, which opposed America’s entrance into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1939, in an essay entitled “Aviation, Geography, and Race,” published in that most American of journals, Reader’s Digest, Lindbergh embraced something close to Nazism for America:
"It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea."
The America First movement was the public face of pro-fascist sentiment in the United States at that time. In the twenties and thirties, many Americans shared Lindbergh’s views against immigration, especially by non-Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1924 strictly limited immigration into the country, and it was specifically intended to restrict the immigration of both nonwhites and Jews.
~ How Fascism Works, The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
Once again, nationalism, aka fascism, has risen its ugly head in America, in European nations, and in some other countries around the world. The fight of good people against ignorance, the fears that sprout from it, the hate which then blossoms, culminating in the bitter toxic fruit of evil, senseless brutalities and deaths, is a constant, never-ending battle we fear, but it is a battle from which we must never shrink.
In this era, the likes of Toxic Trump and Marginalized Greene have become the face of the new "America First" fascist movement built up over the last four decades by the GOP, Reich-wing plutocrats, demagogues, and media. But, as with Lindbergh, the American people gradually come to recognize their dysfunctional poison and reject it. Most Americans understand, accept, and appreciate that the enduring strength of America is that we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism, a "melting pot" where the best ideas rise to the top, and superficial differences are meaningless in the face of our common humanity and purpose. Most Americans want competent leaders who speak truth, who strive to unite, who are not corrupt, who care about them. So, it should come as no surprise that President Biden is already receiving high marks from the public, while Toxic Trump never managed to rise above even a 50% approval rating. To conclude where begun, the following quotes are submitted for further reflection:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana
"History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme. ~ Mark Twain
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." ~ Aldous Huxley
"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Reference also Father Charles E. Coughlin and Henry Ford in regards to the first America First movement.)
"Call this civic barbarism. Instead of promoting the values of responsible citizenship, Trump, Republican leadership, and their media enablers have elevated and blessed the very worst among us. They are making many Americans less suited for self-government and more dangerous to their neighbors. And they are doing so for the reason some of the Founders most feared: To lead the mob against true democracy."
~ Michael Gerson, from 'Trumpism is American Fascism'
Malcolm Nance: We Are In A Neo-Fascist Era In American Politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RxUAe2zeM
Political Analyst Tells Joy Reid: Forget Trumpism, IT’s Neo-Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgNp84JA4A
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"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
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@privatename3621 ~ We see things almost identically. A few areas where I would differ: China is presently more of an emerging threat, while Russia is actively and overtly working to subvert Western democracies and their elections. Nationalist movements have been ongoing in a number of Western nations, presenting a weakness and an opening for Russia to exploit. What is happening in Bulgaria in Poland with their governments is also cause for concern.
I have likened the current threat as the greatest to America since the Civil War. The War of 1812 posed no real serious threat to American sovereignty, despite the British burning of Washington, D.C. in 1814. The war declared by the U.S. was largely a byproduct of the war between England and France at that time. While the Federalists and most people in the U.S. northeast generally opposed the war, by war's end public sentiment had shifted, with widespread public resentment against the British, leading to the decline of the Federalist Party.
Don't think that a U.S. fall from power would necessarily lead to a domino effect of European nations falling, but it would leave a huge power vacuum for Russia and China to exploit and fill, although doubt that either would rise to the level of dominance that the U.S. had achieved. In fact, would argue that despite the U.S. still being the world's sole superpower, it's dominance has been waning for decades, which has little to do with internal political divisions, and much more to do with moral considerations and the acceptance of grim realities; regardless of how much influence any one nation may attain, it can not rule the world.
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@privatename3621 ~ From the viewpoint of those in bondage, a Civil War that had resulted in the splitting of the Union would have been catastrophic, and the South could certainly not have then been categorized as a representative democracy, either. Moreover, the potential consequences and ramifications of such a scenario would have extended far beyond slavery, affecting the future of both sides in unpredictable ways. More civil wars between the two sides would have been a possibility, if not probability, as each fought the other for new territory, and a greatly weakened United States would have certainly resulted, regardless.
A good many in the Republican cult ignorantly WANT another civil war. A recent poll found 40% of Republicans supporting a violent overthrow of government. Following is a comment have been posting for a couple of months, and a book review have been posting for the last few weeks:
"Until Republicans return to reality and become responsible, they should not be trusted with power again."
That's been obvious for some time, the same warning others like me have been advocating, but it's good that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is amplifying that message. More Americans need to understand this.
The constant lies, denials, deceits, delusions, gaslighting, dog-whistles, crackpot conspiracy theories, projectionism, Whataboutism, bogus victimhood, and hypocrisy of Republicans is disgusting and alarming. The Republican cult has poisoned itself with its own propaganda, choosing to live in a dystopian fascist Orwellian fantasy world. The Republican cult has been radicalized to such extent that it poses a clear and present danger to our society, our democracy, our country, and the world.
Republicans have been programmed into a mindless fascist partisan cult that is unhinged, delusional and evil. And it's extremely dangerous to our security, to our democracy, and to our country. They're essentially a domestic terrorist group, and we should be targeting the leaders of that group with the same vigor and determination we would a foreign terrorist group attacking our country. Don't know of a time since the Civil War when our nation has been at greater peril, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and act upon it accordingly.
'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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@privatename3621 ~ Fully concur. A lot of people blame the Fairness Doctrine, but it doesn't apply to cable news networks, never has, so reinstating the law that Reagan abolished would be, at best, a superficial remedy. The following commentary echoes much of the same perspective, and have been posting it for nearly five years in various incarnations, with minor updates:
The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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@privatename3621 ~ Education to the fascist Republican cult means programming lies, fears, and hate into people, while discouraging critical reasoning, independent thought, and objectivity.
Who'd have ever equated voting in America with survival? But that's pretty much what it has boiled down to, hasn't it? Survival of ourselves, survival of our democracy, survival of our nation, and survival of our planet. The irony is that Republicans have always tried to paint Democrats as an existential threat...but in doing so it is actually they who have become exactly that.
The above are two comments regularly posted, and are supplied here in concurrence with your threat assessment. Also, it is interesting to note that Reich-wing domestic terrorism has replaced climate change as the U.S. intelligence community's top threat to America, which is no mean feat.
I fully agree with your assessment about social media and for-hire political influencing operations like Cambridge Analytics. The fire was already burning, and those things were, and remain, akin to pouring gasoline upon it. Furthermore, what social media has done is allow bad actors to gather together independently in a way never before possible or so easy, creating in effect hundreds and thousands of separate, spreading wildfires.
As far as those close to Trump getting burned, they were already weak and corrupt, or they wouldn't have put themselves in that position----or, after finding themselves in such a position, would have left before allowing themselves to be tainted and ruined. So, I have little sympathy for them, for they brought the shame and disgrace upon themselves, and have no one else to blame but themselves for it.
It is for Republican so-called "leaders" especially for whom I have the least regard and the most condemnation; for they well know better, or should, but choose to exploit the situation for their own selfish ends, putting themselves not only before their oath and country, but also even before the best interests of their own political party. However, I also condemn and have little regard for the Republican cult voters who also are abdicating a duty they have, who choose deliberate obtuseness, or willful ignorance, over truth, reason, and decency, who willingly allow themselves to be manipulated and used as receptacles for the poison poured into them. They share responsibility, too, and are not innocent.
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@privatename3621 ~ That's the $64,000 question, isn't it? To which there are no good answers, or to which possible solutions are being blocked by intransigent Republicans. Worse, the situation and threat is being exacerbated by anti-democratic rhetoric and laws passed by Republicans.
My answer is using every tool at our disposal. Individual citizens condemning the GOP, voting Democrat, convincing others of the danger and to likewise vote Democrat. DOJ, state, and local prosecutors going after Trump and his cronies for crimes they have committed. Charging everyone involved with the January 6 terrorist insurrection against the nation's Capitol, including those responsible for inciting it, with sedition. Disbarment of and sanctions against any and all lawyers involved with perpetuating the Big Lie in our nation's court system through frivolous and baseless lawsuits. Lawsuits against Reich-wing media outlets and social media platforms when propaganda they carry causes harm, as with the events of January 6. Boycotting corporations making political donations to the GOP or its members. Civics education better teaching the fragile and delicate nature of our democracy, which stresses our individual responsibilities to stay informed, stay objective, vote wisely, and participate.
There is more that can and should be done, such as with Congress passing laws to better protect our institutions and voting rights, to better protect against corruption, and to inscribe expected norms into laws. However, such efforts are being, or are sure to be, blocked by Republicans.
Also support eliminating the Electoral College, and putting in place universal ranked or cardinal choice voting. Furthermore, believe the Senate has become an antiquated, undemocratic, and overly abused element of our government that is overdue for modification. Those changes are also unlikely to occur anytime soon, but support needs to be grown for them so that they one day become reality.
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@privatename3621 ~ I agree with your dire assessment. And how is it that when Republicans lose the popular vote but win they Presidency, anyway, that they claim a popular mandate, but when Democrats win the popular vote, the Presidency, the Senate, and the House, they deny Democrats a popular mandate?
My opinion is the filibuster needs to either be reformed so its use is extremely limited and restricted, or abolished. Since the change in Senate rules allowing it to be abused, it has become a joke and a tool for deadlock. Couple comments of mine previously posted on this, which match your own perspective:
Silly Sinema and Charlie Brown Manchin pretend not to understand the carrot and stick approach and how effective it can be. The want to neuter Senate Democrats by taking away the stick, deliberately obtuse that Republicans in Congress haven't been acting in good faith for many, many years, that they have no desire for bipartisanship, and that there is no incentive for them to change. Both ignore how Republicans ended the filibuster for SCOTUS nominees, and would eliminate it altogether in a heartbeat if found to their advantage. Silly Sinema and Charlie Brown Manchin care more about holding onto power and their own personal interests than their constituents and the good of the country.
Congressional Republicans just proved--once again--they are unwilling to operate in good faith, first in the House, now in the Senate, unwilling to even pass a BIPARTISAN commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection! Then, they filibustered EVEN debating the We the People Act, which has broad public support among both Democrats and Republicans! How many times does Lucy have to pull the football out at the last minute before Charlie Brown Manchin and Silly Sinema finally wise up? New voting rights protections sorely needed in the wake of new Republican Jim Crow legislation nationwide, a badly needed infrastructure and jobs bill, and numerous other pieces of critical legislation the Democrats want to pass don't stand a chance if the filibuster is allowed to stand. If Republicans are going to abuse the filibuster, then it's time to LOSE THE FILIBUSTER!!!
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'Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America' by Kathleen Belew (Harvard University Press, 2018)
The movement “brought together members of the Klan, militias, radical tax resisters, white separatists, neo-Nazis, and proponents of white theologies such as Christian Identity, Odinism, and Dualism” (ix). What was it about the movement that brought these ideologies together?
The promise of violence — rather, the promise that members would get to inflict violence on other people. Belew writes that as the white power movement matured, it became more violent, and “[as] violence came to the fore of the movement, distinctions among white power factions melted away” (60). Belew calls this process “violent community formation” (34). Yet as a social movement, Belew makes a distinction between the white power movement’s “revolutionary violence” and the Ku Klux Klan’s “vigilante violence.”
Vigilante violence “served to constitute, shore up, and enforce systemic power” (106). Given that the U.S. government has a long history of “defending vigilante violence by refusing to enforce the law” (99), law enforcement inaction and vigilante violence may be understood together as a case of one hand washing the other. Revolutionary violence, however, sought to overthrow the state. It is the white power movement’s goal of overthrowing the federal government that sets it apart in the history of white supremacy in the U.S.
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The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times.
Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them.
American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted.
Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood.
"United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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